LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



With Reflections for Every Day in the Tear 



COMPILED FROM 



THE "LIVES OF THE SAINTS" 



Rev. ALBAN BUTLER 



TO WHICH ARE ADDED 

LIVES OF THE AMERICAN SAINTS PLACED ON 
THE CALENDAR FOR THE UNITED STATES 
BY SPECIAL PETITION OF THE THIRD 
PLENARY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE 



New York, Cincinnati, Chicago 

BENZIGER BROTHERS 

PRINTERS TO THE I PUBLISHERS OF 

3 LY APOSTOLIC SEE j BENZIGER'S MAGAZINE 



1913 



imprimatur. 

* Michael Augustine, 

Archbishop of New Yorlc 

New York, January 21, 1887 



Copyright, 1878, 1887, 1894, 1913, by 3enziger I rothers 



THE MOVABLE FEASTS. 



ovable feasts are so called because they have no fixed 
place in the calendar ; their celebration happening 
sooner or later, year by year, according as the feast of 
Easter itself occurs at a different period. The latter feast 
is always celebrated on the Sunday which accompanies or 
follows the first full moon after the spring equinox. As 
the movable feasts afford useful lessons, we ought to take 
them fully to heart 

ADVENT. 

he time of Advent cannot exactly be considered festal, 
nor can it be classed among the movable feasts: and 
yet the first day of Advent is, in another sense, movable, 
inasmuch as it happens always on the fourth Sunday before 
Christmas — which festival itself falls on different days of 
the week. Advent means comi%tg, and the four weeks 
whereof it consists represent the four thousand years which 
preceded the coming of the Son of God into this world. 
Formerly, Advent-time was observed by fasting, absti- 
nence, and mortification, but not in a manner so rigor- 
ous as that of Lent. Notwithstanding the alleviations 
which the Church has thought well to introduce in the 
course of time, Advent has still remained a period of recol- 
lection and prayer. The true Christian ought to take ad- 
vantage thereof, and by pious yearnings entreat for the 
coming of the Son of God into his heart by graqe, and into 
the world at large by the spreading of the Gospel. 

Reflection. — "All the days in which T am now in war- 
fare I await until my change come. Thou shalt call me, 
and I will answer Thee." 

3 





4 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY— THE FORTY 
HOURS' DEVOTION. 

QUINQUAGESIMA Sunday is the third day preceding 
Ash Wednesday. That holy season is approaching 
when the Church denies herself her songs of joy in order 
the more forcibly to remind lis, her children, that we are 
living in a Babylon of spiritual danger, and to excite us 
to regain that genuine Christian spirit which everything 
in the world around us is striving to undermine. If we 
are obliged to take part in the amusements of the few 
days before Lent, let it be with a heart deeply imbued with 
the maxims of the Gospel. But, as a substitute for frivo- 
lous amusements and dangerous pleasures, the Church 
offers a feast surpassing all earthly enjoyments, and a 
means whereby we can make some amends to God for the 
insults offered to His divine majesty. The Lamb that 
taketh away the sins of the world is exposed upon our al- 
tars. On this His throne of mercy He receives the homage 
of those who come to adore Him and acknowledge Him for 
their King; He accepts the repentance of those who come 
to tell Him how grieved they are at having followed any 
other master; and He offers Himself again to His Eternal 
Father as a propitiation for those sinners who yet treat His 
favors with indifference. It was the pious Cardinal Gabriel 
Paleotti, Archbishop of Bologna, who, in the sixteenth 
century, first originated the admirable devotion of the 
Forty Hours. His object in this solemn exposition of the 
Most Blessed Sacrament was to offer to the divine majesty 
some compensation for the sins of man, and, at the very- 
time when the world was busiest in deserving His anger, 
to appease it by the sight of His own Son, the Mediator 
between heaven and earth. Pope Benedict XIV. granted 
many indulgences to all the faithful of the Papal States 
who, during these days, should visit Our Lord in this mys- 
tery of His love, and should pray for the pardon of sin- 
ners. This favor, at first so restricted, afterwards was ex- 
tended by Pope Clement XIII. to the universal Church. 
Thus the Forty Honrs' Devotion has spread throughout the 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



5 



whole world and become one of the most solemn expres- 
sions of Catholic piety. 

Reflection. — Let us then go apart, for at least one short 
hour, from the dissipation of earthly enjoyments, and, 
kneeling in the presence of our Jesus, merit the grace to 
keep our hearts innocent and detached. 



ASH WEDNESDAY. 

ak, drawn from the dust, must return to it, and 
all that he does meanwhile, with the exception of 
what good he may achieve, is but dust and vanity; the 
good alone survives. Such are the truths which the 
Church wishes to engrave in the memory, but still more in 
the hearts, of her children, by the sprinkling of ashes on 
this first day of Lent. This custom dates from the first 
centuries of the Church, and was then observed, not toward 
all the faithful without distinction, but toward public sin- 
ners who had submitted themselves to canonical penance, 
to obtain thereby reconciliation with the Church and ad- 
mission to a share in the divine Eucharist. The bishop 
imposed on them the obligation of wearing the hair-shirt 
and penitent garb, placing ashes on their head, and then 
excluding them from the church until the day of Easter. 
Meanwhile, they had to remain humbly prostrate at the 
church-porch, imploring the prayers of those who, more 
happy than they, might assist at the divine mysteries within 
the sacred building. The custom of putting ashes on the 
head in token of penitence is even more ancient than Chris- 
tianity; the Jews practised it, and the holy King David 
tells us that he had submitted to the observance. It may 
be said rather to date from the first ages of the world ; for 
the holy man J ob, long before even the time of Moses, fol- 
lowed the custom. Nothing is, in fact, more calculated to 
lead the sinner to enter into himself than the remembrance 
of his last end. Nothing is better fitted to beat down pride 
and put a check on futile projects and guilty purposes than 
the terrible and sad memento, "Kemember that thou art 
but dust!" Empires, riches, honors, and dignities, re- 




6 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



splendent palaces, triumphal ears, fair adornments, beauty, 
strength, and power, all crumble away, and their very pos- 
sessor is but a ruin, and, ere a few days have sped, will 
have dwindled into dust. 

Reflection. — Bear ever in mind, then, men and sinners, 
that "you are dust, and unto dust you shall return/" 



THE FIVE WOUNDS OF OUR LORD. 

Se that delight in decking your head with costly and 
superb adornments, who love to cumber your hands 
with gold and precious jewels, who revel in luxury and 
in soft garments, approach and see to what a condition 
Jesus Christ, your Captain and Saviour, is reduced. His 
head is crowned with thorns and streaming with blood, and 
every base indignity heaped thereon by ruffian executioners ; 
His feet and hands are pierced by nails, His side gaping 
with a wide-open wound. Such are the mournful accents 
uttered by the Church on the first Friday of Lent, two days 
after she has strewed ashes on the heads of the faithful. 
" For you it is," she exclaims, " that the Son of God, the 
Word made flesh, has undergone these heart-rending 
affronts, with intent to expiate your evil-doings, and to 
teach you that the idol of your body, which you deck out 
with so much care and eager delight, deserves, on the con- 
trary, naught but affliction and suffering. How can you, 
while wreathing yourselves with flowers, venture to tread 
in the footsteps of a Master Who bears a thorny crown? 
And with what mind do you propose becoming the disciples 
of such a Master ? That forehead made lustrous with bor- 
rowed splendor, those limbs delicately clad and brilliantly 
adorned, will first become the food of the grave-worm, and 
afterward the prey of that fire that quencheth not, if you 
strive not to bend them down to that lowliness which is 
native to them, to the state of subjection for which they 
were created, and to the penitence they have merited by 
reason of sin." 

Reflection. — May the contemplation of the wounds of 
Our Saviour engrave deeply in our mind the maxim uttered 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



7 



by His own divine lips : " If any man will come after Me, 
let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me." 

THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF OUR LORD 
JESUS CHRIST. 

he Church, inspired by the Holy Ghost, has estab- 
lished a special feast in honor of the Most Precious 
Blood of Our Lord. This saving blood was first shed 
at the circumcision of the divine Infant; it was next 
poured out in the bloody sweat of agony in the Garden of 
Olives ; again it flowed under the cruel blows of the savage 
soldiery; then when the crown of thorns was pressed into 
His temples ; and finally when " one of the soldiers with a 
spear opened His side, and there came out blood and 
water." St. Augustine, explaining these words of St. John, 
points out that the Evangelist does not use the words struck 
or wounded, but says distinctly, "one of the soldiers with 
a spear opened His side," that we may understand thereby 
that the gate of life was opened, and from that sacred side 
issued all those sacraments of the Church without which 
we can never hope to gain eternal life. This precious 
blood was symbolized by the victim of the Old Law; but 
while these latter sacrifices served only to purify the outer 
man, the blood of Jesus Christ, by virtue of its infinite 
efficacy, washes us free from all sin, provided we avail 
ourselves of the means established by our divine Saviour 
in His Church for the application of its infinite merits. 

Reflection. — Let us haste, then, to profit by the graces 
offered us. Let us wash away the stains of sin in the 
Sacrament of Penance, and nourish ourselves with the 
most blessed body and blood of the holy Eucharist. Let 
us ever be attentive at Mass, where this adorable blood 
mystically pours forth again upon the altar to plead our 
cause before the throne of divine justice. 




8 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



THE SEVEN DOLORS OF THE BLESSED 

VIRGIN. 

0ve, when placed by the hand of God in a garden of 
delights, received but one precept to be obeyed so as to 
be forever happy — a precept easy of accomplishment, 
the non-observance whereof should needs be inexcusable, 
inasmuch as neither urgent want nor strong inclina- 
tion led to its violation; there was conjoined, moreover, 
the assurance of death following inevitably upon the 
transgression of the precept. But the serpent, kindling 
with jealousy and hate, came to tempt her. She gazed on 
the forbidden fruit, gathered thereof, and carried it to her 
husband, and together they ate, incurring the fatal loss, 
and involving mankind in their downfall. Mary, preceded 
by the God made man, went toiling with Him up the arid 
steep of Calvary, in order to accomplish the most heart- 
rending of all sacrifices. Eve had rebelled; Mary surren- 
dered her will. Eve had yielded to the enticing voice of 
the tempter; Mary heard the voice of the same demon of 
jealousy and hate, uttering by the mouth of the impious 
Jews blasphemies and maledictions, but she was not fright- 
ened from her purpose. Eve, in her disobedience, stretched 
forth her hand toward the tree of the knowledge of good 
and evil; Mary, in her submission to the designs of God, 
stretches forth hers to the tree of the cross. Eve had 
sacrificed to her caprice the spouse through whom she had 
received being; Mary assists at the sacrifice of the Son to 
Whom she has given being. Eve was born of man without 
the agency of a mother; Mary gave birth to the Man-God 
without the intervention of a spouse. Eve, after her dis- 
obedience, became the mother, in the order of nature, of a 
race accursed; Mary, through her submission, has become, 
in the order of grace, the Mother of a race sanctified. 

These points of resemblance and contrast offer themselves 
spontaneously to the mind, provided we ponder somewhat 
over the remembrance celebrated by the Church on the 
Friday in Holy Week, under the title of " The Seven Dolors 
of the Blessed Virgin." A mother's heart can alone com- 
prehend the agony of torture endured by this Mother at the 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



9 



foot of the cross whereon her Son was immolated; we do 
not attempt to describe, nor are any mere human lips, 
indeed, able to express it. 

Reflection. — Let us adore this divine and mysterious 
abyss of charity, in whose depth our salvation was worked 
out at the price of so much suffering; and let us bear in 
mind what we have cost that Mother to whose guardian- 
ship we were made over even from the sublime height of 
the cross. 



THE MOST HOLY CROWN OF THORNS OF 
OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. 

he Most Holy Crown of Thorns, consecrated by the 
head and the blood of our divine Saviour, has always 
been looked upon as one of the most precious of relics. 

Having been carried to Constantinople, it was there 
carefully kept, during the reign of the French emperors, 
up to the beginning of the thirteenth century. At that 
time the emperor, Baldwin II., was sorely pressed by the 
Saracens and Greeks, and, considering Constantinople as 
no longer secure, he sent the precious relic to his cousin, 
St. Louis, who accepted it with delight. St. Louis, in re- 
quital, afterward voluntarily paid off a large sum which 
the emperor had borrowed from the Venetians. In 1239 
the sacred treasure was carried in a sealed case, with 
great devotion, by holy men, to France. St. Louis, accom- 
panied by many prelates and his entire court, met it five 
leagues beyond Sens. The pious king, with his brother, 
Eobert of Artois, both barefooted, carried it into that city to 
the Cathedral of St. Stephen, accompanied by a numerous 
procession. Two years after, it was taken to Paris, where 
it was received with great solemnity and placed in the 
Holy Chapel, which St. Louis built for its reception. 
Every year, on the 11th of August, the transfer of this relic 
from Venice to Paris is celebrated in the Holy Chapel. 




10 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



PALM SUNDAY. 

Hessons without end., at once lofty and hallowing, 
might be deduced from the triumphant entry of 
Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, celebrated by the Church 
on this day; we limit ourselves, however, to considering 
the event under one aspect merely, in order to draw 
therefrom a moral lesson for our spiritual instruction. 
Jesus Christ enters Jerusalem, and the people forthwith 
improvise a triumph all the more noble because it has cost 
neither blood nor tears, and so much the more touching 
because it is spontaneous. The whole town is in commo- 
tion, the roadway is strewn with branches and covered 
with the garments of the bystanders, every mouth resound- 
ing with acclamations and blessings and praise. Jesus 
Christ is proclaimed the Son of David, the King of the 
nation, and the Messias. Ere a few days are sped, the 
very people that had applauded now clamor for His death, 
curse and insult Him, and assist at His degrading death 
with fiendish cries of triumph. 

Even thus pass away the glories of the world, its joys, 
its possessions, even life itself. To-day at the height of 
greatness, to-morrow in the deepest abasement; but yester- 
day the idol of a nation, to-day the object of its hate ; now 
surrounded with prosperity, and, yet a little while, borne 
down by misfortune; one day full of life and vigor, and 
the next consigned to the tomb. 

Foolish, then, are they who would account as of any 
value, or would cling to, things perishable ! What bitter 
awakenings have not such poor deluded beings to expect, 
and what chagrin and tearful disappointments do they not 
create for themselves ! The Christian who places the aim 
of his hopes and the centre of his affections at a higher 
range is both wiser and more happy. Prosperity does not 
blind nor inebriate him, since he knows it to be capricious 
and changeful; adverse fortune does not overwhelm him, 
because he was prepared for it and awaited it with calm- 
ness. The unforeseen alone affords any ground for fear; 
and to the faithful Christian there is nothing that is un- 
foreseen. 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



11 



Reflection. — The recommendation given by the great 
Apostle may be aptly brought to mind : " And they that 
weep be as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, 
as though they rejoiced not; and they that use this world, 
as though they used it not; for the fashion of this world 
passeth away." 



On Thursday, the eve of the Passion, Jesus Christ 
took bread, and, having blessed it, broke and dis- 
tributed it to His apostles, saying to them, "Take and 
eat : this is My body, which shall be delivered for you." 
Then taking the chalice, He blessed and gave it to thenx, 
saying, "Drink ye all of this; for this is the chalice of 
My blood, which shall be shed for you." He thereafter 
added, " This do in remembrance of Me." These words, 
in all their precision, simplicity, and clearness, contain the 
institution of the adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist, an 
irrefragable proof of the Eeal Presence of Jesus Christ in 
this sacrament, and the demonstration of His perpetuity 
in the Church. But, rather than indulge in reasoning, let 
us set forth briefly the principal effect. Jesus Christ, 
before instituting it, had said that this sacrament would 
communicate life eternal to those receiving it; and this, 
in one aspect at least, and so far as it is given to man to 
understand the mysteries of God, is comprehensible. Sin 
had implanted in man the germ of death and vice. By 
reason of his disobedience man had become incapable of 
good, or even of a holy thought, as the great Apostle tells 
us. Now, in God is the source of being, life, good, virtue, 
and all excellence. God, by communicating Himself sub- 
stantially to man by means of this august sacrament, 
implants the germ of immortality and virtue. Man, if 
limited to his own powers, could not even think out a 
useful way of becoming virtuous, for whence should he 
take the principle of virtue and the means of putting it in 
practice? He would consequently have to incur eternal 
loss, since salvation without virtue is a thing utterly im- ? 
possible. But once pervaded with the principle of grace 
by an intimate union with God, he has only to let it develop 



MAUNDY THURSDAY. 



12 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



and to cultivate the good seed sown in him. Thus does 
the diamond, of itself colorless and dim, absorb the light 
when exposed thereto, becoming a sparkling centre of light 
and shining with a radiant lustre. The more vivid the 
light, the more brightly will the diamond shine, if it be 
pure. In like manner, the more man launches himself 
into the divine substance, the more will he therewith be 
inundated by Holy Communion ; the more potent, also, will 
his life become in virtues strong and manifold, and, con- 
sequently, in sure claims to salvation. 

Reflection. — With what respect, love, and ardor ought 
we not to receive this divine food, " which maketh to live 
forever 99 ! 

GOOD FRIDAY. 

esus Christ was nailed to the cross about midday, 
expired thereon in the afternoon, and was taken 
down in the evening toward sunset, or the sixth hour. 
According to the language of St. Paul, thus did He, by 
His blood, pacify heaven and earth. If this form of ex- 
pression convey not simply the reconciliation of heaven 
with the earth, it veils a mystery impenetrable to feeble 
reason. But this very reconciliation is in itself the greatest 
mystery; for man always vainly tries to explain it by re- 
curring to comparisons and considerations of human con- 
ception merely, which are vastly insufficient from the fact 
of their being human. And what matters it, after all, 
whether we understand or not so great a mystery ? Enough 
for us that it has produced its effect, and that we are able 
to adore it in gratitude and love. That philosophy should 
rail at what it does not fathom is sheer foolishness. In- 
credulity may scoff at what it does not recognize; it con- 
cerns it, however, to know whether reason be on its side. 
Let heresy explain, after human fashion, things divine; 
as for us Christians, let us fix our gaze on the Mediator 
between God and man, raised aloft between heaven and 
earth, with arms outstretching in order to enfold the 
universe, with head downbent to give to the world the 
kiss of peace and reconciliation, after having, at the cost 




LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



13 



of His blood, purchased peace ; and let us humble our whole 
being in heartfelt thanksgiving and love. Let us rever- 
ently imprint our lips on this cross, the instrument of our 
salvation; let us bend down trembling before the just God, 
Who takes such noble revenge for our guilt. By our works 
let us make some return for the price we have cost ; by our 
penitence and tears let us apply to ourselves the merit of 
His redemption, and henceforth live only for heaven, since 
we have been made heirs to heaven. 

Reflection. — The cross, "to the Jews indeed a stum- 
bling-block, and to the Gentiles foolishness," is, withal, the 
instrument of Christ's power and of the wisdom of God. 

HOLY SATURDAY. 

hree hours after Jesus Christ had uttered His last 
sigh on the cross, two of His disciples, Mcodemus 
and J oseph of Arimathea, went to ask Pilate for the body, 
that they might give it burial. Having obtained it, they 
embalmed it according to the custom of the Jews, and 
deposited it not far from the place of Calvary, in a tomb 
hewn in the rock, wherein no one had yet been laid. Pilate 
caused the entrance to be sealed up, and placed a guard 
over it, lest the body should be taken away. The Saviour 
thus remained from nightfall on the Friday till the first 
rays of dawn on the Sunday. He had Himself said that He 
was to pass this time in the tomb, and had quoted as an 
example the abiding of the prophet Jonas for the same 
space of time in the whale's belly. It was then a real death 
that was associated with these signs and precautions, and 
the sacrifice had been consummated and was irrevocable. 
Well might we then marvel at such excess of love, covering 
ourselves with confusion at the thought of how feebly we 
love Him Who hath so greatly loved us, and of how little we 
do for Him Who hath accomplished so much for us. But 
we should enter upon another consideration. With Jesus 
Christ died also the ancient world with its hideous worship ; 
the synagogue with its symbols and mysteries; and the 
man of sin, the old Adam, with its concupiscences — yea, 
even death itself, which had been inflicted on man in pun- 




14 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



ishment for sin. With Jesus Christ died sin, and sin was 
placed in the tomb with Him ; for, according to the beauti- 
ful expression of the Apostle, the Saviour fastened the sins 
of men to the cross. 

Now the cross itself was buried on the spot where Christ 
had suffered, as was the custom among the Jews, and as 
was fully shown by the finding thereof in conjunction with 
those of the two thieves, three centuries later, by St. Helen ; 
whence it follows that among us Christians, the disciples, 
that is, of Christ, and regenerated by His death, there 
ought never to lurk any shadow of Jewish superstition or 
pagan morals, any remnant of the old Adam or man of sin. 
Concupiscences, disorderly passions, and love of the world 
should no longer exist but as the memory of a time that is 
no more. 

Reflection. — " For we are buried together with Him by 
baptism unto death; that as Christ is risen from the dead 
by the glory of His Father, so we also may walk in newness 
of life. For if we have been planted together in the like- 
ness of His death, we shall be also of His resurrection, 
knowing this, that the old man is crucified with Him, that 
the body of sin may be destroyed, and that we may serve 
sin no longer." 

EASTER SUNDAY. 

he resurrection of the dead is one of the most consol- 
ing truths of Christianity. To die forever would be 
the most terrible of all destinies. The plant and the 
animal, unendowed with reason, die, never to live again; 
but they have not, at least, any apprehension as to what 
death is. To die is to them one of the thousand accidents 
bound up with life ; to the plant it is as nothing, and for the 
animal without reason a merely transitory pang, death itself 
being but the affair of a moment. For man, on the con- 
trary, death has terrors which precede it, anguish accom- 
panying it, and apprehensions consequent upon it. The 
most strongly attempered spirit shudders on reflecting that 
it must incur death ; the most selfish man has attachments 
which he with difficulty severs ; the most determined unbe- 




LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



15 



liever experiences doubts as to the shadowy To-morrow of 
death. Man would then be the most pitiable among all 
beings were Eeligion not at hand to say to him, " The grave 
is a place of momentary rest; you will come forth thence 
one day. The God that gave being to your limbs will re- 
store them; the Eesurrection of Jesus Christ gives thereof 
an assured pledge/ 5 

This confidence in the future resurrection is a subject of 
the greatest joy to the children of God, the groundwork of 
their faith, the mainspring of their hope, and the most last- 
ing comfort amid the evils of this life. For if Christ had 
not risen, says the apostle St. Paul, in vain would we be- 
lieve in Him. He would be convicted of having been an 
impostor, and His apostles of being mad ; His death would 
not have availed us anything, and we should still be dwell- 
ing in the bonds of sin. Those dying in Jesus Christ 
would perish, and, our hope in Him not extending beyond 
the present life, we should be the most unfortunate of men, 
inasmuch as, after having had, as our portion in this life, 
sufferings and afflictions, we should not be able to console 
ourselves with the expectation of future good. But Jesus 
Christ having come forth living from the tomb, His doc- 
trine is confirmed by His Resurrection; it establishes the 
certitude of His mission in His character as Son of God, 
the efficacy of the sacrifice He offered on the cross, the 
divinity of His priesthood, the rewards of the other life, 
and the glorified resurrection of the flesh. 

Reflection. — We shall one day rise again; but let us 
range by the side of such a consoling expectation that terri- 
ble warning of the prophet Daniel, " Many of those that 
sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some unto life 
everlasting, and others unto reproach eternal." 

THE ASCENSION. 

he mystery which the Church honors on this day is 
at the same time that of the triumph of Jesus Christ 
and the hallowed hope of His disciples. The Saviour, 
after having accomplished His mission on earth, ascends 
to heaven to put His manhood in possession of the glory 




16 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



due to it, and to prepare for us an abiding-place. He 
ascends thither as our King, Liberator, Chief, and Medi- 
ator: our King, because He has purchased us at the cost 
of His blood; our Liberator, because He has conquered 
death and sin, and has ransomed us from the thraldom of 
Satan; our Chief, because He wishes that we should follow 
in His footsteps, and that we should be where He is, even 
as He has Himself declared ; our Mediator, because we can 
have access to the Father only through Him. He ascends 
thither as our High Priest, in order to offer unceasingly to 
God the blood which He has shed for us in His character of 
man, and to obtain for us through the merits of His sacri- 
fice the remission of our sins. 

Let us, then, by means of faith, follow Him in His As- 
cension to heaven, and abide there henceforth in heart and 
spirit. Let us remember that heaven is wholly ours, as our 
inheritance; and, amid the temptations and miseries of 
this life, let us think often of this home of peace, of glory, 
and of bliss eternal. 

We must not flatter ourselves, however, that without 
earnest efforts on our part we shall have any share in the 
kingdom of Jesus Christ. There are many mansions in 
the house of our heavenly Father, but there are not many 
roads leading thither. Jesus Christ has traced out for us 
the way of humiliation and suffering, and it is the only one 
that conducts to eternal peace. If the hardships of the 
journey and the sight of our own weakness strike us with 
dread, we should gather energy by leaning on the promises 
of the God-man. He will be with us even unto the end, 
and if we love Him all will become easy. 

Reflection. — Let us cherish hope : " Christ being come, 
a High Priest of the good things to come, hath entered into 
the holy of holies, by His own blood having pbtained 

eternal redemption." 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



17 



WHIT-SUNDAY. 

Eifty days after Easter the apostles and disciples of 
Jesus Christ were assembled in an upper chamber, 
engaged in prayer, according to the recommendation of 
the divine Master, and awaiting the accomplishment of the 
promise He had made to them, of sending them a Com- 
forting Spirit, the Paraclete, Who should teach them all 
things. Lo! a great noise, as of a rushing tempest, was 
suddenly heard, the house was rocked to and fro, and 
tongues of fire were seen resting on the head of each one. 
At once all were changed into new men, their minds being 
endowed with full understanding of the Scriptures and of 
the wonders they had hitherto witnessed without compre- 
hending, and their souls were filled with strength from on 
high; thenceforth they belonged no more to themselves, 
but to the work of the Gospel. From that time forth this 
divine Spirit has not ceased to pour Himself forth upon the 
Church to enlighten, confirm, protect, and guide; He has 
not ceased communicating Himself to each of the faithful 
individually, either by means of the sacraments or by grace, 
whenever He has found hearts well disposed. 

The Fathers of the Church and all theologians are of one 
mind in recognizing, in the workings of the Holy Ghost in 
the hearts of the faithful, seven chief gifts : Wisdom, Un- 
derstanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and the 
Fear of the Lord. The gift of Wisdom helps us to judge 
healthily of all things concerning our last end ; the gift of 
Understanding, to apprehend the truths revealed, and to 
submit our hearts thereto; the gift of Counsel, to choose 
in all things the part best fitted for the sanctification of our 
souls ; the gift of Fortitude, to resist temptations and over- 
come dangers; the gift of Knowledge, to discern the best 
means of sanctifying ourselves ; the gift of Piety, or Godli- 
ness, causes us to love religion and the practices having 
reference to divine worship; the gift of the Fear of the 
Lord turns us aside from sin and from whatever may dis- 
please God. 

Reflection. — " They that are according to the flesh mind 
the things that are of the flesh; but they that are accord- 



18 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



ing to the Spirit mind the things that are of the Spirit. 
For the wisdom of the flesh is death; but the wisdom of 
the Spirit is life and peace." 

TRINITY SUNDAY. 

he Holy Trinity is one only God in three Persons, the 
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, equal in all 
things and co-eternal. The Father gives being to the Son, 
and the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the 
Son: the most adorable, truly, of all mysteries, and like- 
wise the most impenetrable! St. Anselm has endeavored 
to explain it from a single point of view only, and has 
accomplished this in a masterly yet necessarily insufficient 
manner. The Father, he says, cannot exist a single instant 
without knowing Himself, because, in God, to know is 
to exist, even as to will is to act. This knowledge per- 
sonified is "the Word," His Son. The Son is, then, co- 
eternal with the Father. The Father and the Son can- 
not exist a single instant without loving each other; their 
mutual love is, again, personified, because in God to love is 
still to exist, God being love itself. This third Person, thus 
co-eternal with the other two Persons, is the Holy Ghost. 
But the inhabitants with God can alone understand these 
wonders, and they understand because they see them. 

The free-thinker, surrounded by the mysteries of nature, 
and who is to himself a complete mystery, is not willing to 
admit of any in religion. "I only wish to believe," he 
says, u what I understand " ! The poor fool would not be- 
lieve much were he taken at his word. He would neither 
believe in the food he takes, seeing that he could not ex- 
plain how it imparts nourishment, nor in the light of the 
sun, since he does not apprehend how it brings him into 
relation with distant objects, nor even in his own argu- 
ments, since he does not comprehend how his mind evokes 
and gives them shape. 

Literally speaking, there exist no mysteries, there are 
only truths ; but truth becomes a mystery to him who does 
not understand it. Writing is a mystery to one who knows 
not how to read ; it ceases to be so to any one who has re- 




LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



19 



ceived instruction. According as we educate the soul and 
widen the measure of knowledge, mysteries begin to dis- 
appear in proportion; therefore is it that there are no 
mysteries in heaven, because the angels and the blessed 
behold with open gaze the objects whereof we now possess 
but the mysterious definition. To deserve to behold them 
one day in their heavenly company, one condition is 
requisite, namely, to adore them meanwhile with steadfast 
and perfect faith in the word of God, which proposes them 
for our belief. In the realm of nature a mystery is a 
truth not understood, which one believes withal because 
one sees it. In the sphere of religion a mystery is a truth 
not understood, which one believes because God has re- 
vealed it. 

Reflection. — Wherefore rebel against the word of God ? 
Is it not " as if the clay should rebel against the potter, 
and the work should say to the worker thereof, Thou un- 
derstandest not" ? 

CORPUS CHRISTI. 

ill the thirteenth century the Church had not 
thought of establishing a special festival in honor of 
the Blessed Sacrament, being satisfied with celebrating on 
Holy Thursday the institution of this divine mystery. 
At that period, however, as heresiarchs dared to attack the 
Eeal Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, and nu- 
merous miracles and special revelations had occurred to 
concentrate the attention of the Christian world on this 
dogma, Pope Urban IV. decreed, in 1244, that a special 
feast should be instituted, which, by its solemnity and 
pomp, should be as a protestation in favor of the unwaver- 
ing faith of the Church, and should, at the same time, 
offer an honorable reparation for the blasphemies of im- 
pious men. But this pontiff happening to die soon after, 
the Bull had not all the effect intended, and it was only 
after the Council of Vienna, held in 1332, that the feast of 
the Blessed Sacrament, or Corpus Christi, was definitively 
established throughout the Catholic world. The holy 
Council of Trent newly approved in a formal and earnest 




20 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



manner both the worship itself and its attendant pomp. 
The feast of Corpus Christi is, then, a solemn act of faith 
in the Keal Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed 
Eucharist; and this belief, to which the Church attaches 
an importance of the highest moment, is the very ground- 
work of Catholicity, or rather is the very essence of all 
Christianity ; for if Jesus Christ be not present really and 
corporeally under the elements of bread and wine, as He 
has Himself formally told us, His word is no longer reliable, 
He is no longer God, and there remains of religion naught 
save a beautiful but sterile philosophy, which each one can 
remodel after his own mind. If it be allowable, as Prot- 
estants contend, to interpret in a purely allegorical sense 
words of such clearness that there are not, throughout the 
whole of the Gospel, any more positive or precise, it is per- 
missible to interpret everything at will, and the Gospel 
remains an enigma, the solution whereof is nowhere to be 
found. It is furthermore the intention of the Church to 
make an avowal of her love and gratitude to Our Saviour 
Jesus Christ, and to offer reparation for all the profanations 
and sacrileges to which this adorable sacrament has been 
exposed. 

Reflection, — 0 weak-hearted and lukewarm Christians! 
0 ye infidels, unbelievers, and heretics of all ages! "if 
you did but know the gift of God, you would perhaps have 
asked of Him, and He would have given you living 
water ! " 



LITTLE PICTORIAL 

LIVES OF THE SAINTS. 



January i. — THE CIRCUMCISION OF OUR 
LORD. 

Circumcision was a sacrament of the Old Law, and the 
first legal observance required by Almighty God of 
the descendants of Abraham. It was a sacrament of 
initiation in the service of God, and a promise and en- 
gagement to believe and act as He had revealed and 
directed. The law of circumcision continued in force until 
the death of Christ, and Our Saviour being born under the 
law, it became Him, Who came to teach mankind obedi- 
ence to the law of God,, to fulfil all justice, and to submit 
to it. Therefore He was circumcised that He might redeem 
them that were under the law, by freeing them from the 
servitude of it ; and that those who were in the condition 
of servants before might be set at liberty, and receive the 
adoption of sons in Baptism, which, by Christ's institution, 
succeeded to circumcision. On the day that the divine 
Infant was circumcised, He received the name of Jesus, 
which signifies Saviour, which had been given Him by the 
angel before He was conceived. That name, so beautiful, 
so glorious, the divine Child does not wish to bear for one 
moment without fulfilling its meaning; even at the mo- 
ment of His circumcision He showed Himself a Saviour by 
shedding for us that blood a single drop of which is more 
than sufficient for the ransom and salvation of the whole 
world. 

Reflection. — Let us profit by the circumstance of the 
new year, and of the wonderful renewal wrought in the 
world by the great mystery of this day, to renew in our 

21 



22 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [January 2 



hearts an increase of fervor and of generosity in the ser- 
vice of God. May this year be one of fervor and of prog- 
ress! It will go by rapidly, like that which has just 
ended. If God permits us to see its end, how glad and 
happy we shall be to have passed it holily ! 



January 2. — ST. FULGENTIUS, Bishop. 

^TT^N" spite of family troubles and delicate health, Fulgen- 
tins was appointed at an early age procurator of his 
province at Carthage. This success, however, did not 
satisfy his heart. Levying the taxes proved daily more 
distasteful, and when he was twenty-two, St. Austin's 
treatise on the Psalms decided him to enter religion. After 
six years of peace, his monastery was attacked by Arian 
heretics, and Fulgentius himself driven out destitute to the 
desert. He now sought the solitude of Egypt, but finding 
that country also in schism, he turned his steps to Eome. 
There the splendors of the imperial court only told him of 
the greater glory of the heavenly Jerusalem, and at the first 
lull in the persecution he resought his African cell. 
Elected bishop in 508, he was summoned forth to face new 
dangers, and was shortly after banished by the Arian king ; 
Thrasimund, with fifty-nine orthodox prelates, to Sardinia. 
Though the youngest of the exiles, he was at once the 
mouthpiece of his brethren and the stay of their flocks. By 
his books and letters, which are still extant, he confounded 
both Pelagian and Arian heresiarchs, and confirmed the 
Catholics in Africa and Gaul. An Arian priest betrayed 
Fulgentius to the JSTumidians, and ordered him to be 
scourged. This was done. His hair and beard were 
plucked out, and he was left naked, his body one bleeding 
sore. Even the Arian bishop was ashamed of this bru- 
tality, and offered to punish the priest if the Saint would 
prosecute him. But Fulgentius replied, "A Christian 
must not seek revenge in this world. God knows how to 
right His servants 5 wrongs. If I were to bring the punish- 
ment of man on that priest, I should lose my own reward 
with God. And it would be a scandal to many little 
ones that a Catholic and a monk, however unworthy he 



January 2] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



23 



be, should seek redress from an Arian bishop." On 
Thrasimund's death the bishops returned to their flocks, 
and Fulgentius, having reestablished discipline in his see. 
retired to an island monastery, where after a year's prepa- 
ration he died in peace in the year 533. 

Reflection. — Each year may bring us fresh changes and 
trials; let us learn from St. Fulgentius to receive all that 
happens as from the hand of God, and appointed for our 
salvation. 

ST. MACARIUS OF ALEXANDRIA. 

acarius when a youth left his fruit-stall at Alex- 
andria to join the great St. Antony. The patri- 
arch, warned by a miracle of his disciple's sanctity, 
named him the heir of his virtues. His life was one long 
conflict with self. " I am tormenting my tormentor," re- 
plied he to one who met him bent double with a basket 
of sand in the heat of the day. " Whenever I am slothful 
and idle, I am pestered by desires for distant travel." 
When he was quite worn out he returned to his cell. Since 
sleep at times overpowered him, he kept watch for twenty 
days and nights ; being about to faint, he entered his cell 
and slept, but henceforth slept only at will. A gnat stung 
him ; he killed it. In revenge for this softness he remained 
naked in a marsh till his body was covered with noxious 
bites and he was recognized only by his voice. Once 
when thirsty he received a present of grapes, but passed 
them untouched to a hermit who was toiling in the heat. 
This one gave them to a third, who handed them to a 
fourth; thus the grapes went the round of the desert 
and returned to Macarius, who thanked God for his 
brethren's abstinence. Macarius saw demons assailing 
the hermits at prayer. They put their fingers into the 
mouths of some, and made them yawn. They closed the 
eyes of others, and walked upon them when asleep. They 
placed vain and sensual images before many of the 
brethren, and then mocked those who were captivated by 
them. None vanquished the devils effectually save those 
who by constant vigilance repelled them at once. Maca- 



24 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [January 3 



rius visited one hermit daily for four months, but never 
could speak to him, as he was always in prayer; so he 
called him an " angel on earth." After being many years 
Superior, Macarius fled in disguise to St. Pachomius, to 
begin again as his novice; but St. Pachomius, instructed 
by a vision, bade him return to his brethren, who loved 
him as their father. In his old age, thinking nature 
tamed, he determined to spend five days alone in prayer. 
On the third day the cell seemed on fire, and Macarius 
came forth. God permitted this delusion, he said, lest he 
be ensnared by pride. At the age of seventy-three he was 
driven into exile and brutally outraged by the Arian here- 
tics. He died a. d. 394. 

Reflection. — Prayer is the breath of the soul. But St. 
Macarius teaches us that mind and body must be brought 
to subjection before the soul is free to pray. 

January 3.— ST. GENEVIEVE, Virgin. 

enevieve was born at ISFanterre, near Paris. St. Ger- 
manus, when passing through, specially noticed a 
little shepherdess, and predicted her future sanctity. At 
seven years of age she made a vow of perpetual chas- 
tity. After the death of her parents, Paris became her 
abode; but she often travelled on works of mercy, which, 
by the gifts of prophecy and miracles, she unfailingly per- 
formed. At one f time she was cruelly persecuted: her 
enemies, jealous of her power, called her a hypocrite and 
tried to drown her; but St. Germanus having sent her 
some blessed bread as a token of esteem, the outcry ceased, 
and ever afterwards she was honored as a Saint. During 
the siege of Paris by Childeric, king of the Franks, Gene- 
vieve went out with a few followers and procured corn for 
the starving citizens. Nevertheless Childeric, though a 
pagan, respected her, and at her request spared the lives of 
many prisoners. By her exhortations again, when Attila 
and his Huns were approaching the city, the inhabitants, 
instead of taking flight, gave themselves to prayer and 
penance, and averted, as she had foretold, the impending 
scourge. Clovis, when converted from paganism by his 




January 4] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



25 



holy wife, St. Clotilda, made Genevieve his constant ad- 
viser, and, in spite of his violent character, made a gen- 
erous and Christian king. She died within a few weeks 
of that monarch, in 512, aged eighty-nine. 

A pestilence broke out at Paris in 1129, which in a short 
time swept off fourteen thousand persons, and, in spite of 
all human efforts, daily added to its victims. At length, 
on November 26th, the shrine of St. Genevieve was carried 
in solemn procession through the city. That same day but 
three persons died, the rest recovered, and no others were 
taken ill. This was but the first of a series of miraculous 
favors which the city of Paris has obtained through the 
relics of its patron Saint. 

Reflection. — Genevieve was only a poor peasant girl, 
but Christ dwelt in her heart. She was anointed with His 
Spirit, and with power; she went about doing good, and 
God was with her. 

January 4.— ST. TITUS, Bishop. 

itus was a convert from heathenism, a disciple of St. 
Paul, one of the chosen companions of the Apostles in 
his journey to the Council of Jerusalem, and his fellow- 
laborers in many apostolic missions. Prom the Second 
Epistle which St. Paul sent by the hand of Titus to the 
Corinthians we gain an insight into his character and un- 
derstand the strong affection which his master bore him. 
Titus had been commissioned to carry out a twofold office 
needing much firmness, discretion, and charity. He was to 
be the bearer of a severe rebuke to the Corinthians, who 
were giving scandal and were wavering in their faith ; and 
at the same time he was to put their charity to a further 
test by calling upon them for abundant alms for the church 
at J erusalem. St. Paul meanwhile was anxiously awaiting 
the result. At Troas he writes, " I had no rest in my spirit, 
because I found not Titus, my brother." He set sail to 
Macedonia. Here at last Titus brought the good news. 
His success had been complete. He reported the sorrow, 
the zeal, the generosity of the Christians, till the Apostle 
could not contain his joy, and sent back to them his faith- 




26 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [January 4 



ful messenger with the letter of comfort from which we 
have quoted. Titus was finally left as a bishop in Crete, 
and here he, in turn, received the epistle which bears his 
name, and here at last he died in peace. 

The mission of Titus to Corinth shows us how well the 
disciple caught the spirit of his master. He knew how to 
be firm and to inspire respect. The Corinthians, we are 
told, " received him with fear and -trembling." He was 
patient and painstaking. St. Paul "gave thanks to God, 
Who had put such carefulness for them in the heart of 
Titus." And these gifts were enhanced by a quickness to 
detect and call out all that was good in others, and by a 
jo}^ousness which overflowed upon the spirit of St. Paul 
himself, who a abundantly rejoiced in the joy of Titus." 

Reflection. — Saints win their empire over the hearts of 
men by their wide and affectionate sympathy. This was 
the characteristic gift of St. Titus, as it was of St. Paul, St. 
Francis Xavier, and many others. 

ST. GREGORY, Bishop. 

t. Gregory was one of the principal senators of Autun, 
and continued from the death of his wife a widower 
till the age of fifty-seven, at which time, for his singular 
virtues, he was consecrated Bishop of Langres, which see 
he governed with admirable prudence and zeal thirty-three 
years, sanctifying his pastoral labors by the most profound 
humility, assiduous prayer, and extraordinary abstinence 
and mortification. An incredible number of infidels were 
converted by him from idolatry, and worldly Christians 
from their disorders. He died about the beginning of 
the year 541, but some days after the Epiphany. Out of 
devotion to St. Benignus, he desired to be buried near that 
Saint's tomb at Dijon; this was executed by his virtuous 
son Tetricus, who succeeded him in his bishopric. 




January 5] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



27 



January 5. — ST. SIMEON STYLITES. 

One winter's day, about the year 401, the snow lay thick 
around Sisan, a little town in Cilicia. A shepherd 
boy, who could not lead his sheep to the fields on account 
of the cold, went to the church instead, and listened to 
the eight Beatitudes, which were read that morning. He 
asked how these blessings were to be obtained, and when 
he was told of the monastic life a thirst for perfection 
arose within him. He became the wonder of the world, 
the great St. Simeon Stylites. He was warned that per- 
fection would cost him dear, and so it did. A mere child, 
he began the monastic life, and therein passed a dozen 
years in superhuman austerity. He bound a rope round 
his waist till the flesh was putrefied. He ate but once in 
seven days, and, when God led him to a solitary life, kept 
fasts of forty days. Thirty-seven years he spent on the 
top of pillars, exposed to heat and cold, day and night 
adoring the majesty of God. Perfection was all in all to 
St. Simeon; the means nothing, except in so far as God 
chose them for him. The solitaries of Egypt were suspi- 
cious of a life so new and so strange, and they sent one of 
their number to bid St. Simeon come down from his pillar 
and return to the common life. In a moment the Saint 
made ready to descend; but the Egyptian religious was 
satisfied with this proof of humility. " Stay/ 5 he said, 
" and take courage ; your way of life is from God/ 5 

Cheerfulness, humility, and obedience set their seal upon 
the austerities of St. Simeon. The words which God put 
into his mouth brought crowds of heathens to baptism and 
of sinners to penance. At last, in the year 460, those who 
watched below noticed that he had been motionless three 
whole days. They ascended, and found the old man's body 
still bent in the attitude of prayer, but his soul was with 
God. Extraordinary as the life of St. Simeon may appear, 
it teaches us two plain and practical lessons: First, we 
must constantly renew within ourselves an intense desire 
for perfection. Secondty, we must use with fidelity and 
courage the means of perfection God points out. 



28 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Januaet 6 



Reflection. — St. Augustine says : a This is the busi- 
ness of our life : by effort and by toil, by prayer and suppli- 
cation, to advance in the grace of God, till we come to that 
height of perfection in which with clean hearts we may 
behold God." 

January 6.— THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD. 

he word Epiphany means " manifestation," and it ha3 
passed into general acceptance throughout the univer- 
sal Church, from the fact that Jesus Christ manifested 
to the eyes of men His divine mission on this day first 
of all, when a miraculous star revealed His birth to the 
kings of the East, who, in spite of the difficulties and 
dangers of a long and tedious journey through deserts and 
mountains almost impassable, hastened at once to Bethle- 
hem to adore Him and to offer Him mystical presents, as 
to the King of kings, to the God of heaven and earth, and 
to a Man withal feeble and mortal. The second manifes- 
tation was when, going out from the waters of the Jordan 
after having received Baptism from the hands of St. J ohn, 
the Holy Ghost descended on Him in the visible form of 
a dove, and a voice from heaven was heard, saying, 66 This 
is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased." The 
third manifestation was that of His divine power, when at 
the marriage-feast of Cana He changed the water into 
wine, at the sight whereof His disciples believed in Him. 
The remembrance of these three great events, concurring 
to the same end, the Church has wished to celebrate in one 
and the same festival. 

Reflection. — Admire the almighty power of this little 
Child, Who from His cradle makes known His coming to 
the shepherds and magi — to the shepherds by means of 
His angel, to the magi by a star in the East. Admire the 
docility of these kings. Jesus is born; behold them at His 
feet ! Let us be little, let us hide ourselves, and the divine 
strength will be granted to us. Let us be docile and quick 
in following divine inspirations, and we shall then become 
wise of the wisdom of God, powerful in His almighty 
power. 




Januaky 8] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



29 



January 7.— ST, LUCIAN, Martyr. 

/S2fT. Lucian was born at Samosata in Syria. Having 
lost his parents in his youths he distributed all his 
worldly goods, of which he inherited an abundant share, 
to the poor, and withdrew to Edessa, to live near a holy 
man named Macarius, who imbued his mind with a knowl- 
edge of the Holy Scriptures, and led him to the practice 
of the Christian virtues. Having become a priest, his 
time was divided between the external duties of his holy 
state, the performance of works of charity, and the study 
of sacred literature. He revised the books of the Old and 
New Testaments, expunging the errors which had found 
their way into the text either through the negligence of 
copyists or the malice of heretics, thus preparing the way 
for St. Jerome, who shortly after was to give to the world 
the Latin translation known as ee The Vulgate." living 
been denounced as a Christian, Lucian was thrown into 
prison and condemned to the torture, which was protracted 
for twelve whole days. Some Christian visited him in 
prison, on the feast of the Epiphany, and brought bread 
and wine to him; while bound and chained down on his 
back, he consecrated the divine mysteries upon his own 
breast, and communicated the faithful who were present. 
He finished his glorious career in prison, and died with the 
words, " I am a Christian," on his lips. 

Reflection. — If we would keep our faith pure, we must 
study its holy truths. We cannot detect falsehood till we 
know and love the truth; and to us the truth is not an 
abstraction, but a Person, Jesus Christ, God and Man. 

January 8.— ST. APOLLINARIS, THE APOLO- 
GIST, Bishop. 

Glaudius 'Apollhstaris, Bishop of Hierapolis in 
Phrygia, was one of the most illustrious prelates of 
the second age. Notwithstanding the great encomiums 
bestowed on him by Eusebius, St. Jerome, Theodoret, and 
others, but little is known of his actions; and his writ- 



30 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [January 9 



ings, which then were held in great esteem, seem now 
to be all lost. He wrote many able treatises against the 
heretics, and pointed out, as St. Jerome testifies, from 
what philosophical sect each heresy derived its errors. 
Nothing rendered his name so illustrious, however, as his 
noble apology for the Christian religion which he ad- 
dressed to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, about the year 
175, soon after the miraculous victory that prince had ob- 
tained over the Quadi by the prayers of the Christians. St. 
Apollinaris reminded the emperor of the benefit he had re- 
ceived from God through the prayers of his Christian sub- 
jects, and implored protection for them against the perse- 
x a tion of the pagans. Marcus Aurelius published an edict 
in which he forbade any one, under pain of death, to accuse 
a Christian on account of his religion; by arrange incon- 
sistency, he had not the courage to abolish the laws then 
in force against the Christians, and, as a consequence, 
many If **$iem suffered martyrdom, though their accusers 
were aVao put to death. The date of St. Apollinaris' death 
is not known; the Eoman Martyrology mentions him on 
the 8th of January. 

Reflection. — "Therefore I say unto you, all things 
whatsoever you ask when you pray, believe that you shall 
receive : and they shall come unto you." 

January 9.— SS. JULIAN and BASILISSA, Martyrs. 

T. Julian and St. Basilissa, though married, lived, 
by mutual consent, in perpetual chastity; they sanc- 
tified themselves by the most perfect exercises of an as- 
cetic life, and employed their revenues in relieving the 
poor and the sick. For this purpose they converted their 
house into a kind of hospital, in which they sometimes 
entertained a thousand poor people. Basilissa attended 
those of her sex, in separate lodgings from the men; these 
were taken care of by Julian, who from his charity is 
named the Hospitalarian. Egypt, where they lived, had 
then begun to abound with examples of persons who, either 
in the cities or in the deserts, devoted themselves to the 
most perfect exercises of charity, penance, and mortifica- 




January 10] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



31 



tion. Basilissa, after having stood seven persecutions, 
died in peace; Julian survived her many years and re- 
ceived the crown of a glorious martyrdom, together with 
Celsus, a youth, Antony, a priest, Anastasius, and Mar- 
cianilla, the mother of Celsus. Many churches and hos- 
pitals in the East, and especially in the West, bear the 
name of one or other of these martyrs. Four churches at 
Eome, and three out of five at Paris, which bear the name 
of St. Julian, were originally dedicated under the name of 
St. Julian, the Hospitalarian and martyr. In the time 
of St. Gregory the Great, the skull of St. Julian was 
brought out of the East into France, and given to Queen 
Brunehault; she gave it to the nunnery which she founded 
at Etampes; part of it is at present in the monastery of 
Morigny, near fitampes, and part in the church of the reg- 
ular canonesses of St. Basilissa at Paris. 

Reflection. — God often rewards men for works that are 
pleasing in His sight by giving them grace and opportunity 
to do other works higher still. St. Augustine said, "I 
have never seen a compassionate and charitable man die a 
bad death/' 



January io. — ST. WILLIAM, Archbishop. 

>¥<illiam Berruyer, of the illustrious family of the an- 
vly cient Counts of JsTevers, was educated by Peter the 
Hermit, Archdeacon of Soissons, his uncle by the mother's 
side. Prom his infancy William learned to despise the 
folly and emptiness of the world, to abhor its pleasures, 
and to tremble at its dangers. His only delight was in 
exercises of piety and in his studies, in which he employed 
his whole time with indefatigable application. He was 
made canon, first of Soissons and afterwards of Paris ; but 
he soon resolved to abandon the world, and retired into the 
solitude of Grandmont, where he lived with great regular- 
ity in that austere Order until finally he joined the 
Cistercians, then in wonderful odor of sanctity. After 
some time he was chosen Prior of the Abbey of Pontigny, 
and afterwards became Abbot of Chaalis. On the death 
of Henri de Sully, Archbishop of Bourges, William was 



32 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [January 11 



chosen to succeed him. The announcement of this new- 
dignity which had fallen on him overwhelmed him with 
grief, and he would not have accepted the office had not 
the Pope and his General, the Abbot of Citeaux, com- 
manded him to do so. His first care in his new position 
was to conform his life to the most perfect rules of sanctity. 
He redoubled all his austerities, saying it was incumbent 
on him now to do penance for others as well as for himself. 
He always wore a hair-shirt under his religious habit, and 
never added to his clothing in winter or diminished it in 
summer; he never ate any flesh-meat, though he had it at 
his table for strangers. When he drew near his end, he 
was, at his request, laid on ashes in his hair-cloth, and in 
this posture expired on the 10th of January, 1209. His 
body was interred in his cathedral, and, being honored by 
many miracles, was taken up in 1217, and in the year fol- 
lowing William was canonized by Pope Honorius III. 

Reflection. — The champions of faith prove the truth of 
their teaching no less by the holiness of their lives than by 
the force of their arguments. Never forget that to convert 
others we must first see to our own souls. 

January n.— ST. THEODOSIUS, THE CENOBI- 

ARCHl 

heodosius was born in Cappadocia in 423. The ex- 
ample of Abraham urged him to leave his country, 
and his desire to follow Jesus Christ attracted him to the 
religious life. He placed himself under Longinus, a very 
holy hermit, who sent him to govern a monastery near 
Bethlehem. Unable to bring himself to command others, 
he fled to a cavern, where he lived in penance and prayer. 
His great charity, however, forbade him to refuse the 
charge of some disciples, who, few at first, became in time 
a vast number, and Theodosius built a large monastery 
and three churches for them. He became eventually Su- 
perior of the religious communities of Palestine. Theo- 
dosius accommodated himself so carefully to the characters 
of his subjects that his reproofs were loved rather than 
dreaded. But once he was obliged to separate from the 




January 12] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



33 



communion of the others a religious guilty of a grave fault. 
Instead of humbly accepting his sentence, the monk was 
arrogant enough to pretend to excommunicate Theodosius 
in revenge. Theodosius thought not of indignation, nor 
of his own position, but meekly submitted to this false and 
unjust excommunication. This so touched the heart of his 
disciple that he submitted at once and acknowledged his 
fault. Theodosius never refused assistance to any in pov- 
erty or affliction; on some days the monks laid more than 
a hundred tables for those in want. In times of famine 
Theodosius forbade the alms to be diminished, and often 
miraculously multiplied the provisions. He also built five 
hospitals, in which he lovingly served the sick, while by 
assiduous spiritual reading he maintained himself in per- 
fect recollection. He successfully opposed the Eutychian 
heresy in Jerusalem, and for this was banished by the em- 
peror. He suffered a long and painful malady, and refused 
to pray to be cured, calling it a salutary penance for his 
former successes. He died at the age of a hundred and 
six. 

Reflection. — St. Theodosius, for the sake of charity, 
sacrificed all he most prized — his home for the love of 
God, and his solitude for the love of his neighbor. Can 
ours be true charity if it costs us little or nothing ? 

January 12.— ST. AELRED, Abbot. 

"/'"Xne thing thou lackest." In these words God called 
K*J Aelred from the court of a royal Saint, David of 
Scotland, to the silence of the cloister. He left the king, 
the companions of his youth, and a friend most dear, to 
obey the call. The conviction that in the world his soul 
was in danger alone enabled him to break such ties. Long 
afterwards the bitterness of the parting remained fresh in 
his soul, and he declared that, "though he had left his 
dear ones in the body to serve his Lord, his heart was 
ever with them/ 9 He entered the Cistercian Order, and 
even there his yearning for sympathy showed itself in a 
special attraction to one among the brethren named Simon. 
This holy monk had left the world in his youth, and ap- 



34 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [January 13 



peared as one deaf and dumb, so absorbed was he in God. 
One day Aelred, forgetting for the moment the rule of 
perpetual silence, spoke to him. At once he prostrated 
himself at his feet in token of his fault; but Simon's look 
of pain and displeasure haunted him for many a year, and 
taught him to let no human feeling disturb for one moment 
his union with God. A certain novice once came to Ael- 
red, saying that he must return to the world. But 
Aelred had begged his soul of God, and answered, 
"Brother, ruin not thyself; nevertheless thou canst not, 
even though thou wouldst." However, he would not lis- 
ten, and wandered among the hills, thinking all the while 
he was going far from the abbey. At sunset he found 
himself before a convent strangely like Eieveaux, and so it 
was. The first monk he met was Aelred, who fell on his 
neck, saying, " Son, why hast thou done so with me ? Lo ! 
I have wept for thee with many tears, and I trust in God 
that, as I have asked of Him, thou shalt not perish/' The 
world does 'not so love its friends. At the command of his 
superiors Aelred composed his great works, the Spiritual 
Friendship and the Mirror of Charity. In the latter he 
says that true love of God is only to be obtained by joining 
ourselves in all things to the Passion of Christ. He died 
in 1167, founder and Abbot of Eieveaux, the most austere 
monastery in England, and Superior of some three hun- 
dred monks. 

Reflection. — When a man has given himself to God, 
God gives back friendship with all His other gifts a hun- 
dredfold. Friends are then loved no longer for themselves 
only, but for God, and that with a love lively and tender ; 
for God can easily purify feeling. It is not feeling, but 
self-love, which corrupts friendship. 

January 13.— ST. VERONICA OF MILAN. 

Veronica's parents were peasants of a village near 
Milan. From her childhood she toiled hard in the 
house and the field, and accomplished cheerfully every 
menial task. Gradually the desire for perfection grew 
within her ; she became deaf to the jokes and songs of her 



January 13] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



35 



companions, and sometimes, when reaping and hoeing, 
would hide her face and weep. Knowing no letters, she 
began to be anxious about her learning, and rose secretly 
at night to teach herself to read. Our Lady told her that 
other things were necessarj^, but not this. She showed 
Veronica three mystical letters which would teach her more 
than books. The first signified purity of intention; the 
second, abhorrence of murmuring or criticism; the third, 
daily meditation on the Passion. By the first she learned 
to begin her daily duties for no human motive, but for 
God alone; by the second, to carry out what she had thus 
begun by attending to her own affairs, never judging her 
neighbor, but praying for those who manifestly erred; by 
the third she was enabled to forget her own pains and sor- 
rows in those of her Lord, and to weep hourly, but silently, 
over the memory of His wrongs. She had constant ec- 
stasies, and saw in successive visions the whole life of 
Jesus, and many other mysteries. Yet, by a special grace, 
neither her raptures nor her tears ever interrupted her 
labors, which ended only with death. After three years' 
patient waiting she was received as a lay-sister in the con- 
vent of St. Martha at Milan. The community was ex- 
tremely poor, and Veronica's duty was to beg through the 
city for their daily food. Three years after receiving the 
habit she was afflicted with secret but constant bodily pains, 
yet never would consent to be relieved of any of her labors, 
or to omit one of her prayers. By exact obedience she 
became a living copy of the rule, and obeyed with a smile 
the least hint of her Superior. She sought to the last 
the most hard and humbling occupations, and in their per- 
formance enjo3'ed some of the highest favors ever granted 
to a Saint. She died in 1497, on the day she had foretold, 
after a six months' illness, aged fifty-two years, and in the 
thirtieth of her religious profession. 

Reflection.— When Veronica was urged in sickness to 
accept some exemption from her labors, her one answer 
was, " I must work while I can, while I have time." Dare 
we, then, waste ours? 



36 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Januaey 14 



January 14.— ST. HILARY OF POITIERS. 

T. Hilary was a native of Poitiers in Aquitaine. 
Born and educated a pagan, it was not till near 
middle age that he embraced Christianity, moved thereto 
mainly by the idea of God presented to him in the Holy 
Scriptures. He soon converted his wife and daughter, 
and separated himself rigidly from all un-Catholic com- 
pany. In the beginning of his conversion St. Hilary would 
not eat with Jews or heretics, nor salute them by the way ; 
but afterwards, for their sake, he relaxed this severity. 
He entered Holy Orders, and in 353 was chosen bishop of 
his native city. Arianism, under the protection of the 
Emperor Constantius^ was just then in the height of its 
power, and St. Hilary found himself called upon to support 
the orthodox cause in several Gallic councils, in which 
Arian bishops formed an overwhelming majority. He was 
in consequence accused to the emperor, who banished him 
to Phrygia. He spent his three years and more of exile in 
composing his great works on the Trinity. In 359 he at- 
tended the Council of Seleucia, in which Arians, semi- 
Arians, and Catholics contended for the mastery. With 
the deputies of the council he proceeded to Constantinople, 
and there so dismayed the heads of the Arian party that 
they prevailed upon the emperor to let him return to Gaul. 
He traversed Gaul, Italy, and Illyria, wherever he came 
discomfiting the heretics and procuring triumph of ortho- 
doxy. After seven or eight years of missionary travel he 
returned to Poitiers, where he died in peace in 368. 

Reflection. — Like St. Hilary, we, too, are called to a 
lifelong contest with heretics; we shall succeed in propor- 
tion as we combine hatred of heresy with compassion for 
its victims. 




January 15] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



37 



January 15.— ST. PAUL, the First Hermit. 

/SS[t. Paul was born in Upper Egypt, about the year 230, 
mZJ and became an orphan at the age of fifteen. He was 
very rich and highly educated. Fearing lest the tortures 
of a terrible persecution might endanger his Christian 
perseverance, he retired into a remote village. But his 
pagan brother-in-law denounced him, and St. Paul, rather 
than remain where his faith was in danger, entered the 
barren desert, trusting that God would supply his wants. 
And his confidence was rewarded ; for on the spot to which 
Providence led him he found the fruit of the palm-tree for 
food, and its leaves for clothing, and the water of a 
spring for drink. His first design was to return to the 
world when the persecution was over; but, tasting great 
delights in prayer and penance, he remained the rest of 
his life, ninety years, in penance, prayer, and contempla- 
tion. God revealed his existence to St. Antony, who 
sought him for three days. Seeing a thirsty she-wolf run 
through an opening in the rocks, Antony followed her to 
look for water, and found Paul. They knew each other at 
once, and praised God together. When St. Antony visited 
him, a raven brought him a loaf, and St. Paul said, a See 
how good God is! For sixty years this bird has brought 
me half a loaf every day; now thou art come, Christ has 
doubled the provision for His servants." Having passed 
the night in prayer, at dawn of day Paul told Antony that 
he was about to die, and asked to be buried in the cloak 
given to Antony by St. Athanasius. Antony hastened to 
fetch it, and on his way back saw Paul rise to heaven in 
glory. He found his dead body kneeling as if in prayer, 
and two lions came and dug his grave. Paul died in his 
one hundred and thirteenth year. 

Reflection. — We shall never repent of having trusted in 
God, for He cannot fail those who lean on Him ; nor shall 
we ever trust in ourselves without being deceived. 



38 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [January 18 



January 16. — ST. HONOR ATUS, Archbishop. 

t. Honoratus was of a consular Boman family settled 
in Gaul. In his youth he renounced the worship of 
idols, and gained his elder brother, Venantius, to Christ. 
Convinced of the hollowness of the things of this world, 
they wished to renounce it with all its pleasures, but a 
fond pagan father put continual obstacles in their way. 
At length, taking with them St. Caprais, a holy hermit, 
for their director, they sailed from Marseilles to Greece, 
with the intention to live there unknown in some desert. 
Venantius soon died happily at Methone, and Honor atus, 
being also sick, was obliged to return with his conductor. 
He first led a hermitical life in the mountains near Frejus. 
Two small islands lie in the sea near that coast; on the 
smaller, now known as St. Honore, our Saint settled, and, 
being followed by others, he there founded the famous 
monastery of Lerins, about the year 400. Some of his 
followers he appointed to live in community; others, who 
seemed more perfect, in separate cells as anchorets. His 
rule was chiefly borrowed from that of St. Pachomius. 
Nothing can be more amiable than the description St. 
Hilary has given of the excellent virtues of this company 
of saints, especially of the charity, concord, humility, com- 
punction, and devotion which reigned among them under 
the conduct of our holy abbot. He was, by compulsion, 
consecrated Archbishop of Aries in 426, and died, ex- 
hausted with austerities and apostolical labors, in 429. 

Reflection. — The soul cannot truly serve God while it is 
involved in the distractions and pleasures of the world. 
St. Honoratus knew this, and chose to be a servant of 
Christ his Lord. Resolve, in whatever state you are, to 
live absolutely detached from the world, and to separate 
yourself as much as possible from it. 




Januabt 17] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



39 



January 17.— ST. ANTONY, Patriarch of Monks.. 

t. Antony was born in the year 251, in Upper Egypt. 
Hearing at Mass the words, " If thou wilt be perfect, 
go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor," he gave 
away all his vast possessions. He then begged an aged 
hermit to teach him the spiritual life. He also visited 
various solitaries, copying in himself the principal virtue 
of each. To serve God more perfectly, Antony entered the 
desert and immured himself in a ruin, building up the 
door so that none could enter. Here the devils assaulted 
him most furiously, appearing as various monsters, and 
even wounding him severely; but his courage never failed, 
and he overcame them all by confidence in God and by the 
sign of the cross. One night, whilst Antony was in his 
solitude, many devils scourged him so terribly that he lay 
as if dead. A friend found him thus, and believing him 
dead carried him home. But when Antony came to him- 
self he persuaded his friend to carry him, in spite of his 
wounds, back to his solitude. Here, prostrate from weak- 
ness, he defied the devils, saying, "1 fear you not; you 
cannot separate me from the love of Christ." After more 
vain assaults the devils fled, and Christ appeared to Antony 
in glory. His only food was bread and water, which he 
never tasted before sunset, and sometimes only once in 
two, three, or four days. He wore sackcloth and sheepskin, 
and he often knelt in prayer from sunset to sunrise. Many 
souls flocked to him for advice, and after twenty years of 
solitude he consented to guide them in holiness — thus 
founding the first monastery. His numerous miracles at- 
tracted such multitudes that he fled again into solitude, 
where he lived by manual labor. He expired peacefully 
at a very advanced age. St. Athanasius, his biographer, 
says that the mere knowledge of how St. Antony lived is a 
good guide to virtue. 

Reflection. — The more violent were the assaults of 
temptation suffered by St. Antony, the more firmly did he 
grasp his weapons, namely, mortification and prayer. Let 
us imitate him in this if we wish to obtain victories like 
his. 




40 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [January 18 



January 18.— ST. PETER'S CHAIR AT ROME. 

t. Peter having triumphed over the devil in the East, 
the latter pursued him to Eome in the person of 
Simon Magus. He who had formerly trembled at the voice 
of a poor maid now feared not the very throne of idolatry 
and superstition. The capital of the empire of the world, 
and the centre of impiety, called for the zeal of the Prince 
of Apostles. God had established the Eoman Empire, and 
extended its dominion beyond that of any former mon- 
archy, for the more easy propagation of His Gospel. Its 
metropolis was of the greatest importance for this enter- 
prise. St. Peter took that province upon himself, and, 
repairing to Eome, there preached the faith and established 
his ecclesiastical chair. That St. Peter preached in Eome, 
founded the Church there, and died there by martyrdom 
under Nero, are facts the most incontestable, by the testi- 
mony of all writers of different countries who lived near 
that time; persons of unquestionable veracity, and who 
could not but be informed of the truth in a point so inter- 
esting and of its own nature so public and notorious. 
This is also attested by monuments of every kind; by the 
prerogatives, rights, and privileges which that church en- 
joyed from those early ages in consequence of this title. 
It was an ancient custom observed by churches to keep an 
annual festival of the consecration of their bishops. The 
feast of the Chair of St. Peter is found in ancient martyr- 
ologies. Christians justly celebrate the founding of this 
mother-church, the centre of Catholic communion, in 
thanksgiving to God for His mercies to His Church, and to 
implore His future blessings. 

Reflection. — As one of God's greatest mercies to His 
Church, let us earnestly beg of Him to raise up in it zealous 
pastors, eminently replenished with His Spirit, with which 
He animated His apostles. 




January 19] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



41 



January 19. — ST. CANUTUS, King, Martyr. 

T. Canutus, King of Denmark, was endowed with ex- 
cellent qualities of both mind and body. It is hard 
to say whether he excelled more in courage or in conduct 
and skill in war ; but his singular piety eclipsed all his 
other endowments. He cleared the seas of pirates, and 
subdued several neighboring provinces which infested Den- 
mark with their incursions. The kingdom of Denmark 
was elective till the year 1660, and, when the father of 
Canutus died, his eldest brother, Harold, was called to the 
throne. Harold died after reigning for two years, and 
Canutus was chosen to succeed him. He began his reign 
by a successful war against the troublesome, barbarous 
enemies of the state, and by planting the faith in the con- 
quered provinces. Amid the glory of his victories he 
humbly prostrated himself at the foot of the crucifix, lay- 
ing there his diadem, and offering himself and his king- 
dom to the King of kings. After having provided for the 
peace and safety of his country, he married Eltha, daugh- 
ter of Eobert, Earl of Flanders, who proved a spouse worthy 
of him. His next concern was to reform abuses at home. 
"For thus purpose he enacted severe but necessary laws for 
the strict administration of justice, and repressed the vio- 
lence and tyranny of the great, without respect to persons. 
He countenanced and honored holy men, and granted 
many privileges and immunities to the clergy. His charity 
and tenderness towards his subjects made him study by all 
possible ways to make them a happy people. He showed a 
royal munificence in building and adorning churches, and 
gave the crown which he wore, of exceeding great value, to 
a church in his capital and place of residence, where the 
kings of Denmark are yet buried. To the virtues which 
constitute a great king, Canutus added those which prove 
the great saint. A rebellion having sprung up in his king- 
dom, the king was surprised at church by the rebels. Per- 
ceiving his danger, he confessed his sins at the foot of the 
altar, and received Holy Communion. Stretching out his 
arms before the altar, the Saint fervently recommended his 
soul to his Creator; in this posture he was struck by a 




42 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Januaby 20 



javelin thrown through a window, and fell a victim for 
Christ's sake. 

Reflection. — The soul of a man is endowed with many 
noble powers, and feels a keen joy in their exercise; but 
the keenest joy we are capable of feeling consists in pros- 
trating all our powers of mind and heart in humblest 
adoration before the majesty of God. 

January 20.— ST. SEBASTIAN, Martyr. 

T. Sebastiaist was an officer in the Roman army, es- 
teemed even by the heathen as a good soldier, and 
honored by the Church ever since as a champion of Jesus 
Christ. Born at Narbonne, Sebastian came to Rome about 
the year 284, and entered the lists against the powers of 
evil. He found the twin brothers Marcus and Marcellinus 
in prison for the faith, and, when they were near yielding 
to the entreaties of their relatives, encouraged them to 
despise flesh and blood, and to die for Christ. God con- 
firmed his words by miracle : light shone around him while 
he spoke; he cured the sick by his prayers; and in this 
divine strength he led multitudes to the faith, among them 
the Prefect of Rome, with his son Tiburtius. He saw his 
disciples die before him, and one of them came back from 
heaven to tell him that his own end was near. It was in 
a contest of fervor and charity that St. Sebastian found 
the occasion of martyrdom. The Prefect of Rome, after 
his conversion, retired to his estates in Campania, and 
took a great number of his fellow-converts with him to this 
place of safety. It was a question whether Polycarp the 
priest or St. Sebastian should accompany the neophytes. 
Each was eager to stay and face the danger at Rome, and 
at last the Pope decided that the Roman church could not 
spare the services of Sebastian. He continued to labor 
at the post of danger till he was betrayed by a false 
disciple. He was led before Diocletian, and, at the em- 
peror's command, pierced with arrows and left for dead. 
But God raised him up again, and of his own accord he 
went before the emperor and conjured him to stay the 




January 213 LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



43 



persecution of the Church. Again sentenced, he was at 
last beaten to death by clubs, and crowned his labors by the 
merit of a double martyrdom. 

Reflection. — Your ordinary occupations will give you 
opportunities of laboring for the faith. Ask help from 
St. Sebastian. He was not a priest nor a religious, but 
a soldier. 

January 21.— ST. AGNES, Virgin, Martyr. 

t. Agnes was but twelve years old when she was led 
to the altar of Minerva at Eome and commanded 
to obey the persecuting laws of Diocletian by offering 
incense. In the midst of the idolatrous rites she raised 
her hands to Christ, her Spouse, and made the sign of 
the life-giving cross. She did not shrink when she was 
bound hand and foot, though the gyves slipped from her 
young hands, and the heathens who stood around were 
moved to tears. The bonds were not needed for her, and 
she hastened gladly to the place of her torture. Next, 
when the judge saw that pain had no terrors for her, he 
inflicted an insult worse than death: her -clothes were 
stripped off, and she had to stand in the street before a 
pagan crowd ; yet even this did not daunt her. H Christ," 
she said, "will guard His own." So it was. Christ 
showed, by a miracle, the value which He sets upon the 
custody of the eyes. Whilst the crowd turned away their 
eyes from the spouse of Christ, as she stood exposed to 
view in the street, there was one young man who dared 
to gaze at the innocent child with immodest eyes. A flash 
of light struck him blind, and his companions bore him 
away half dead with pain and terror. 

Lastly, her fidelity to Christ was proved by flattery and 
offers of marriage. But she answered, " Christ is my 
Spouse : He chose me first, and His I will be." At length 
the sentence of death was passed. For a moment she 
stood erect in prayer, and then bowed her neck to the 
sword. At one stroke her head, was severed from her 
body, and the angels bore her pure soul to Paradise. 




44 



LIVES OF TEE 8AINT8 [January 22 



Reflection. — Her innocence endeared St. Agnes to 
Christ, as it has endeared her to His Church ever since. 
Even as penitents we may imitate this innocence of hers 
in our own degree. Let us strictly guard our eyes, and 
Christ, when He sees that we keep our hearts pure for love 
of Him, will renew our youth and give us back the years 
which the canker-worm has wasted. 



incent was archdeacon of the church at Saragossa. 



V Valerian,, the bishop, had an impediment in his 
speech; thus Vincent preached in his stead, and answered 
in his name when both were brought before Dacian, the 
president, during the persecution of Diocletian. When 
the bishop was sent into banishment, Vincent remained 
to suffer and to die. First of all, he was stretched on the 
rack; and, when he was almost torn asunder, Dacian, the 
president, asked him in mockery "how he fared now." 
Vincent answered, with joy in his face, that he had ever 
prayed to be as he was then. It was in vain that Dacian 
struck the executioners and goaded them on in their savage 
work. The martyr's flesh was torn with hooks; he was 
bound in a chair of red-hot iron ; lard and salt were rubbed 
into his wounds ; and amid all this he kept his eyes raised 
to heaven, and remained unmoved. He was cast into a 
solitary dungeon, with his feet in the stocks; but the 
angels of Christ illuminated the darkness, and assured 
Vincent that he was near his triumph. His wounds were 
now tended to prepare him for fresh torments, and the 
faithful were permitted to gaze on his mangled body. 
They came in troops, kissed the open sores, and carried 
away as relics cloths dipped in his blood. Before the tor- 
tures could recommence, the martyr's hour came, and he 
breathed forth his soul in peace. 

Even the dead bodies of the saints are precious in the 
sight of God, and the hand of iniquity cannot touch them. 
A raven guarded the body of Vincent where it lay flung 
upon the earth. When it was sunk out at sea the waves 
east it ashore; and his relies are preserved to this day in 



January 22.— ST. VINCENT, Martyr. 




January 23] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



45 



the Augustinian monastery at Lisbon, for the consolation 
of the Church of Christ. 

Reflection. — Do you wish to be at peace amidst suffer- 
ing and temptation? Then make it your principal en- 
deavor to grow in habits of prayer and in union with 
Christ. Have confidence in Him. He will make you 
victorious over your spiritual enemies and over yourself. 
He will enlighten your darkness and sweeten your suffer- 
ings, and in your solitude and desolation He will draw 
nigh to you with His holy angels. 

January 23.— ST. RAYMUND OF PENNAFORT. 

orn A. D. 1175, of a noble Spanish family, Baymund, 
at the age of twenty, taught philosophy at Barce- 
lona with marvellous success. Ten years later his rare 
abilities won for him the degree of Doctor in the Uni- 
versity of Bologna, and many high dignities. A tender 
devotion to our blessed Lady, which had grown up with 
him from childhood, determined him in middle life to 
renounce all his honors and to enter her Order of St. Dom- 
inic. There, again, a vision of the Mother of Mercy in- 
structed him to cooperate with his penitent St. Peter 
Nolasco, and with James, King of Aragon, in founding the 
Order of Our Lady of Eansom for the Eedemption of Cap- 
tives. He began this great work by preaching a crusade 
against the Moors, and rousing to penance the Christians, 
enslaved in both soul and body by the infidel. Bang James 
of Aragon, a man of great qualities, but held in bond by a 
ruling passion, was bidden by the Saint to put away the 
cause of his sin. On his delay, Ea3^mund asked for leave 
to depart from Majorca, since he could not live with sin. 
The king refused, and forbade, under pain of death, his 
conveyance by others. Full of faith, Eaymund spread his 
cloak upon the waters, and, tying one end to his staff as a 
sail, made the sign of the cross and fearlessly stepped upon 
it. In six hours he was borne to Barcelona, where, gather- 
ing up his cloak dry, he stole into his monastery. The 
king, overcome by this miracle, became a sincere penitent 
and the disciple of the Saint till his death. In 1230, 




46 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [January 24 



Gregory IX. summoned Eaymund to Home, made him his 
confessor and grand penitentiary, and directed him to 
compile " The Decretals/' a collection of the scattered de- 
cisions of the Popes and Councils. Having refused the 
archbishopric of Tarragona, Eaymund found himself in 
1238 chosen third General of his Order; which post he 
again succeeded in resigning, on the score of his advanced 
age. His first act when set free was to resume his labors 
among the infidels, and in 1256 Eaymund, then eighty- 
one, was able to report that ten thousand Saracens had 
received Baptism. He died a. d. 1275. 

Reflection. — Ask St. Eaymund to protect you from that 

fearful servitude, worse than any bodily slavery, which 
even one sinful habit tends to form. 

January 24.— ST. TIMOTHY, Bishop, Martyr. 

imothy was a convert of St. Paul. He was born at 
Lystra in Asia Minor. His mother was a Jewess, 
but his father was a pagan; and though Timothy had 
read the Scriptures from his childhood, he had not been 
circumcised as a Jew. On the arrival of St. Paul at 
Lystra the youthful Timothy, with his mother and grand- 
mother, eagerly embraced the faith. Seven years later, 
when the Apostle again visited the country, the boy had 
grown into manhood, while his good heart, his austerities 
and zeal had won the esteem of all around him; and holy 
men were prophesying great things of the fervent youth. 
St. Paul at once saw his fitness for the work of an evan- 
gelist. Timothy was forthwith ordained, and from that 
time became the constant and much-beloved fellow-worker 
of the Apostle. In company with St. Paul he visited the 
cities of Asia Minor and Greece — at one time hastening 
on in front as a trusted messenger, at another lingering 
behind to confirm in the faith some recently founded 
church. Finally, he was made the first Bishop of Ephesus ; 
and here he received the two epistles which bear his name, 
the first written from Macedonia and the second from 
Eome, in which St. Paul from his prison gives vent to his 
longing desire to see his " dearly beloved son," if possible, 




January 25] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



47 



once more before his death. St. Timothy himself, not 
many years after the death of St. Paul, won his martyrs 
crown at Ephesus. As a child Timothy delighted in read- 
ing the sacred hooks, and to his last hour he would remem- 
ber the parting words of his spiritual father, " Attende 
lectioni — Apply thyself to reading." 

Reflection. — St. Paul, in writing to Timothy, a faithful 
and well-tried servant of God, and a bishop now getting on 
in years, addresses him as a child, and seems most anxious 
about his perseverance in faith and piety. The letters 
abound in minute personal instructions for this end. It is 
therefore remarkable what great stress the Apostle lays on 
the avoiding of idle talk, and on the application to holy 
reading. These are his chief topics. Over and over again 
he exhorts his son Timothy to " avoid tattlers and busy- 
bodies; to give no heed to novelties; to shun profane and 
vain babblings, but to hold the form of sound, words; to 
be an example in word and conversation; to attend to 
reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine." 

January 25.— THE CONVERSION OF ST. PAUL. 

he great apostle Paul, named Saul at his circumcision, 
was born at Tarsus, the capital of Silicia, and was 
by privilege a Koman citizen, to which quality a great dis- 
tinction and several exemptions were granted by the laws of 
the empire. He was early instructed in the strict ob- 
servance of the Mosaic law, and lived up to it in the most 
scrupulous manner. In his zeal for the Jewish law, which 
he thought the cause of God, he became a violent persecutor 
of the Christians. He was one of those who combined to 
murder St. Stephen, and in the violent persecution of the 
faithful which followed the martyrdom of the holy deacon, 
Saul signalized himself above others. By virtue of the 
power he had received from the high priest, he dragged 
the Christians out of their houses, loaded them w*th 
chains, and thrust them into prison. In the fury of Ms 
zeal he applied for a commission to take up all Jews at 
Damascus who confessed Jesus Christ, and bring them 
bound to Jerusalem, that they might serve as examples for 




48 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [January 25 



the others. But God was pleased to show forth in him His 
patience and mercy. While on his way to Damascus, he 
and his party were surrounded by a light from heaven, 
brighter than the sun, and suddenly struck to the ground. 
And then a voice was heard saying, " Saul, Saul, why dost 
thou persecute Me ? " And Saul answered, " Who art 
Thou, Lord ? " and the voice replied, 66 1 am J esus, Whom 
thou dost persecute." This mild expostulation of Our 
Eedeemer, accompanied with a powerful interior grace, 
cured Saul's pride, assuaged his rage, and wrought at 
once a total change in him. Wherefore, trembling and 
astonished, he cried out, " Lord, what wilt Thou have me 
to do ? " Our Lord ordered him to arise and to proceed on 
his way to the city, where he should be informed of what 
was expected from him. Saul, arising from the ground, 
found that, though his eyes were open, he saw nothing. 
He was led by hand into Damascus, where he was lodged 
in the house of a Jew named Judas. To this house came 
by divine appointment a holy man named Ananias, who, 
laying his hands on Saul, said, " Brother Saul, the Lord 
Jesus, Who appeared to thee on thy journey, hath sent me 
that thou mayest receive thy sight and be filled with the 
Holy Ghost." Immediately something like scales fell from 
Saul's eyes, and he recovered his sight. Then he arose 
and was baptized; he stayed some few days with the dis- 
ciples at Damascus, and began immediately to preach in 
the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God. Thus a 
blasphemer and a persecutor was made an apostle, and 
chosen as one of God's principal instruments in the con- 
version of the world. 

Reflection. — Listen to the words of the "Imitation of 
Christ," and let them sink into your heart : u He who 
would keep the grace of God, let him be grateful for grace 
when it is given, and patient when it is taken away. Let 
lim pray that it may be given back to him, and be careful 
and humble, lest he lose it." 



January 26] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



49 



January 26.— ST. POLYCARP, Bishop, Martyr. 

/S&t. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, was a disciple of St. 
jSZJ John. He wrote to the Philippians, exhorting them 
to mutual love and to hatred of heresy. When the 
apostate Marcion met St. Polycarp at Kome, he asked the 
aged Saint if he knew him, " Yes," St. Polyearp an- 
swered, " I know you for the first-born of Satan." These 
were the words of a Saint most loving and most char- 
itable, and specially noted for his compassion to sinners. 
He hated heresy, because he loved God and man so much. 
In 167, persecution broke out in Smyrna. When Poly- 
carp heard that his pursuers were at the door, he said, 
66 The will of God be done ; 99 and meeting them, he begged 
to be left alone for a little time, which he spent in prayer 
for " the Catholic Church throughout the world." He was 
brought to Smyrna early on Holy Saturday; and, as he 
entered, a voice was heard from heaven, " Polycarp, be 
strong." When the proconsul besought him to curse 
Christ and go free, Polycarp answered, u Eighty-six years 
I have served Him, and He never did me wrong; how can 
I blaspheme my King and Saviour?" When he threat- 
ened him with fire, Polycarp told him this fire of his lasted 
but a little, while the fire prepared for the wicked lasted 
forever. At the stake he thanked God aloud for letting 
him drink of Christ's chalice. The fire was lighted, but 
it did him no hurt; so he was stabbed to the heart, and 
his dead body was burnt. " Then," say the writers of his 
acts, " we took up the bones, more precious than the rich- 
est jewels or gold, and deposited them in a fitting place, at 
which may God grant us to assemble with joy to celebrate 
the birthday of the martyr to his life in heaven ! " 

Reflection. — If we love Jesus Christ, we shall love the 
Church and hate heresy, which rends His mystical body, 
and destroys the souls for which He died. Like St. Poly- 
carp, we shall maintain our constancy in the faith by love 
of Jesus Christ, Who is its author and its finisher. 



50 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [January 27 



January 27. — ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. 

@t. John was born at Antioch in 344. In order to 
break with a world which admired and courted him, 
he in 374 retired for six years to a neighboring mountain. 
Having thus acquired the art of Christian silence, he re- 
turned to Antioch., and there labored as priest, until he 
was ordained Bishop of Constantinople in 398. The 
effect of his sermons was everywhere marvellous. He was 
very urgent that his people should frequent the holy sac- 
rifice, and in order to remove all excuse he abbreviated 
the long Liturgy until then in use. St. Nilus relates that 
St. John Chrysostom was wont to see, when the priest 
began the holy sacrifice, " many of the blessed ones coming 
down from heaven in shining garments, and with bare feet, 
eyes intent, and bowed heads, in utter stillness and silence, 
assisting at the consummation of the tremendous mys- 
tery." Beloved as he was in Constantinople, his denuncia- 
tions of vice made him numerous enemies. In 403 these 
procured his banishment; and although he was almost im- 
mediately recalled, it was not more than a reprieve. In 
404 he was banished to Cucusus in the deserts of Taurus. 
In 407 he was wearing out, but his enemies were impatient. 
They hurried him off to Pytius on the Euxine, a rough 
journey of nigh 400 miles. He was assiduously exposed to 
every hardship, cold, wet, and semi-starvation, but noth- 
ing could overcome his cheerfulness and his consideration 
for others. On the journey his sickness increased, and he 
was warned that his end was nigh. Thereupon, exchang- 
ing his travel-stained clothes for white garments, he re- 
ceived Viaticum, and with his customary words, " Glory 
be to God for all things. Amen," passed to Christ. 

Reflection. — We should try to understand that the most 
productive work in the whole day, both for time and 
eternity, is that involved in hearing Mass. St. John 
Chrysostom felt this so keenly that he allowed no con- 
sideration of venerable usage to interfere with the easiness 
of hearing Mass. 



January 28] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



51 



January 28.— ST. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. 

T. Cyril became Patriarch of Alexandria in 412, 
Having at first thrown himself with ardor into the 
party politics of the place, God called him to a nobler 
conflict. In 428, Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, 
began to deny the unity of Person in Christ, and to refuse 
to the Blessed Virgin the title of " Mother of God." He 
was strongly supported by disciples and friends through- 
out the East. As the assertion of the divine maternity 
of Our Lady was necessary to the integrity of the doc- 
trine of the Incarnation, so, with St. Cyril, devotion to 
the Mother was the necessary complement of his devotion 
to the Son. St. Cyril, after expostulating in vain, accused 
Nestorius to Pope Celestine. The Pope commanded re- 
traction, under pain of separation from the Church, and 
intrusted St. Cyril with the conduct of the proceedings. 
The appointed day, June 7, 431, found Nestorius and 
Cyril at Ephesus, with over 200 bishops. After waiting 
twelve days in vain for the Syrian bishops, the council 
with Cyril tried ISTestorius, and deposed him from his see. 
L T pon this the Syrians and iSTestorians excommunicated St. 
Cyril, and complained of him to the emperor as a peace- 
breaker. Imprisoned and threatened with banishment, 
the Saint rejoiced to confess Christ by suffering. In time 
it was recognized that St. Cyril was right, and with him the 
Church triumphed. Forgetting his wrongs, and careless 
of controversial punctilio, Cyril then reconciled himself 
with all who would consent to hold the doctrine of the In- 
carnation intact. He died in 444. 

Reflection. — The Incarnation is the mystery of God's 
dwelling within us, and therefore should be the dearest 
object of our contemplation. It was the passion of St. 
Cyril's life ; for it he underwent toil and persecution, and 
willingly sacrificed credit and friends. 




52 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [January 29 



January 29. — ST. FRANCIS OF SALES. 

Hrancis was born of noble and pious parents, near 
Annecy, 1566, and studied with brilliant success at 
Paris and Padua. On his return from Italy he gave up 
the grand career which his father had marked out for 
him in the service of the state, and became a priest. 
When the Duke of Savoy had resolved to restore the 
Church in the Chablais, Francis offered himself for the 
work, and set out on foot with his Bible and breviary and 
one companion, his cousin Louis of Sales. It was a work 
of toil, privation, and danger. Every door and every 
heart was closed against him. He was rejected with in- 
sult and threatened with death. But nothing could daunt 
or resist him, and ere long the Church burst forth into a 
second spring. It is stated that he converted 72,000 Cal- 
vinists. He was then compelled by the Pope to become 
Coadjutor Bishop of Geneva, and succeeded to the see 
in 1602. At times the exceeding gentleness with which 
he received heretics and sinners almost scandalized his 
friends, and one of them said to him, 66 Francis of Sales 
will go to Paradise, of course ; but I am not so sure of the 
Bishop of Geneva : I am almost afraid his gentleness will 
play him a shrewd turn." "Ah," said the Saint, "I 
would rather account to God for too great gentleness than 
for too great severity. Is not God all love? God the 
Father is the Father of mercy; God the Son is a Lamb; 
God the Holy Ghost is a Dove — that is, gentleness itself. 
And are you wiser than God ? 99 In union with St. Jane 
Frances of Chantal he founded at Annecy the Order of the 
Visitation, which soon spread over Europe. Though poor, 
he refused provisions and dignities, and even the great see 
of Paris. He died at Avignon, 1622. 

Reflection. — "You will catch more flies," St. Francis 
used to say, " with a spoonful of honey than with a hun- 
dred barrels of vinegar. Were there anything better or 
fairer on earth than gentleness, Jesus Christ would have 
taught it us ; and yet He has given us only two lessons to 
learn of Him — meekness and humility of heart." 



January 30] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



53 



January 30. — ST. BATHILDES, Queen. 

/SSt. Bathildes was an Englishwoman, who was carried 
Sf-/ over whilst yet young into France, and there sold 
for a slave, at a very low price, to Erkenwald, mayor 
of the palace under King Clovis II. When she grew up, 
her master was so much taken with her prudence and 
virtue that he placed her in charge of his household. The 
renown of her virtues spread through all France, and King 
Clovis II. took her for his royal consort. This unexpected 
elevation produced no alteration in a heart perfectly 
grounded in humility and the other virtues; she seemed 
to become even more humble than before. Her new sta- 
tion furnished her the means of being truly a mother to 
the poor; the king gave her the sanction of his royal 
authority for the protection of the Church, the care of the 
poor, and the furtherance of all religious undertakings. 
The death of her husband left her regent of the kingdom. 
She at once forbade the enslavement of Christians, did all 
in her power to promote piety, and filled France with hos- 
pitals and religious houses. As soon as her son Clotaire 
was of an age to govern, she withdrew from the world and 
entered the convent of Chelles. Here she seemed entirely 
to forget her worldly dignity, and was to be distinguished 
from the rest of the community only by her extreme 
humility, her obedience to her spiritual superiors, and her 
devotion to the sick, whom she comforted and served with 
wonderful charity. As she neared her end, God visited 
her with a severe illness, which she bore with Christian 
patience until, on the 30th of January, 680, she yielded up 
her soul in devout prayer. 

Reflection. — In all that we do, let God and His holy 
will be always before our eyes, and our only aim and desire 
be to please Him. 



54 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [February 1 



January 31.— ST. MARCELLA, Widow. 

t. Marcella, whom St. Jerome called the glory of 
the Boman women, became a widow in the seventh 
month after her marriage. Having determined to conse- 
crate the remainder of her days to the service of God, she 
rejected the hand of Cerealis, the consul, uncle of Gallus 
Csesar, and resolved to imitate the lives of the ascetics of 
the East. She abstained from wine and flesh-meat, em- 
ployed all her time in pious reading, prayer, and visiting 
the churches, and never spoke with any man alone. Her 
example was followed by many who put themselves under 
her direction, and Eome was in a short time filled with 
monasteries. When the Goths under Alaric plundered 
Eome in 410, our Saint suffered severely at the hands of 
the barbarian, who cruelly scourged her in order to make 
her reveal the treasures which she had long before dis- 
tributed in charity. She trembled only, however, for the 
innocence of her dear spiritual daughter, Principia, and 
falling at the feet of the cruel soldiers, she begged with 
many tears that they would offer no insult to that pure 
virgin. God moved them to compassion, and they con- 
ducted our Saint and her pupil to the Church of St. Paul, 
to which Alaric had granted the right of sanctuary, with 
that of St. Peter. St. Marcella, who survived this but a 
short time, closed her eyes by a happy death, in the arms 
of St. Principia, about the end of August, 410. 




February 1. — ST. BRIDGID, Abbess, and Patroness 

of Ireland. 

Qext to the glorious St. Patrick, St. Bridgid, whom 
we may consider his spiritual daughter in Christ, 
has ever been held in singular veneration in Ireland. She 
was born about the year 453, at Pochard in Ulster. Dur- 
ing her infancy, her pious father saw in a vision men 
clothed in white garments pouring a sacred unguent on 
her head, thus prefiguring her future sanctity. While yet 
very young, Bridgid consecrated her life to God, bestowed 



Febbuary 1] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



55 



everything at her disposal on the poor, and was the edifi- 
cation of all who knew her. She was very beautiful, and 
fearing that efforts might be made to induce her to break 
the vow by which she had bound herself to God, and to be- 
stow her hand on one of her many suitors, she prayed that 
she might become ugly and deformed. Her prayer was 
heard, for her eye became swollen, and her whole coun- 
tenance so changed that she was allowed to follow her 
vocation in peace, and marriage with her was no more 
thought of. When about twenty years old, our Saint 
made known to St. Mel, the nephew and disciple of St. 
Patrick, her intention to live only to Jesus Christ, and he 
consented to receive her sacred vows. On the appointed 
day the solemn ceremony of her profession was performed 
after the manner introduced by St. Patrick, the bishop 
offering up many prayers, and investing Bridgid with a 
snow-white habit, and a cloak of the same color. While 
she bowed her head on this occasion to receive the veil, a 
miracle of a singularly striking and impressive nature oc- 
curred: that part of the wooden platform adjoining the 
altar on which she knelt recovered its original vitality, and 
put on all its former verdure, retaining it for a long time 
after. At the same moment Bridgid's eye was healed, and 
she became as beautiful and as lovely as ever. 

Encouraged by her example, several other ladies made 
their vows with her, and in compliance with the wish of 
the parents of her new associates, the Saint agreed to 
found a religious residence for herself and them in the 
vicinity. A convenient site having been fixed upon by the 
bishop, a convent, the first in Ireland, was erected upon it; 
and in obedience to the prelate Bridgid assumed the supe- 
riority. Her reputation for sanctity became greater every 
day; and in proportion as it was diffused throughout the 
country the number of candidates for admission into the 
new monastery increased. The bishops of Ireland, soon 
perceiving the important advantages which their respective 
dioceses would derive from similar foundations, persuaded 
the young and saintly abbess to visit different parts of the 
kingdom, and, as an opportunity offered, introduce into 
each one the establishment of her institute. 

While thus engaged in a portion of the province of Con- 



56 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [February i 



naught, a deputation arrived from Leinster to solicit the 
Saint to take up her residence in that territory; but the 
motives which they urged were human, and such could 
have no weight with Bridgid. It was only the prospect of 
the many spiritual advantages that would result from com- 
pliance with the request that induced her to accede, as she 
did, to the wishes of those who had petitioned her. Tak- 
ing with her a number of her spiritual daughters, our 
Saint journeyed to Leinster, where they were received with 
many demonstrations of respect and joy. The site on 
which Kildare now stands appearing to be well adapted for 
a religious institute, there the Saint and her companions 
took up their abode. To the place appropriated for the 
new foundation some lands were annexed, the fruits of 
which were assigned to the little establishment. This do- 
nation indeed contributed to supply the wants of the com- 
munity, but still the pious sisterhood principally depended 
for their maintenance on the liberality of their benefactors. 
Bridgid contrived, however, out of their small means to 
relieve the poor of the vicinity very considerably; and 
when the wants of these indigent persons surpassed her 
slender finances, she hesitated not to sacrifice for them the 
movables of the convent. On one occasion our Saint, imi- 
tating the burning charity of St. Ambrose and other great 
servants of God, sold some of the sacred vestments that she 
might procure the means of relieving their necessities. 
She was so humble that she sometimes attended the cattle 
on the land which belonged to her monastery. 

The renown of BridgicPs unbounded charity drew multi- 
tudes of the poor to Kildare; the fame of her piety at- 
tracted thither many persons anxious to solicit her prayers 
or to profit by her holy example. In course of time the 
number of these so much increased that it became neces- 
sary to provide accommodation for them in the neighbor- 
hood of the new monastery, and thus was laid the founda- 
tion and origin of the town of Kildare. 

The spiritual exigencies of her community, and of those 
numerous strangers who resorted to the vicinity, having 
suggested to our Saint the expediency of having the local- 
ity erected into an episcopal see, she represented it to the 
prelates, to whom the consideration of it rightly belonged. 



Febbuaby l] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



57 



Deeming the proposal just and useful, Conlath, a recluse of 
eminent sanctity, illustrious by the great things which God 
had granted to his prayers, was, at Bridgid's desire, chosen 
the first bishop of the newly erected diocese, In process 
of time it became the ecclesiastical metropolis of the prov- 
ince to which it belonged, probably in consequence of the 
general desire to honor the place in which St. Bridgid had 
so long dwelt. 

After seventy years devoted to the practice of the most 
sublime virtues, corporal infirmities admonished our Saint 
that the time of her dissolution was nigh. It was now half 
a century since, by her holy vows, she had irrevocably con- 
secrated herself to God, and during that period great 
results had been attained ; her holy institute having widely 
diffused itself throughout the Green Isle, and greatly ad- 
vanced the cause of religion in the various districts in 
which it was established. Like a river of peace, its prog- 
ress was steady and silent; it fertilized every region fortu- 
nate enough to receive its waters, and caused it to put 
forth spiritual flowers and fruits with all the sweet per- 
fume of evangelical fragrance. The remembrance of the 
glory she had procured to the Most High, as well as the 
services rendered to dear souls ransomed by the precious 
blood of her divine Spouse, cheered and consoled Brid- 
gid in the infirmities inseparable from old age. Her last 
illness was soothed by the presence of Nennidh, a priest 
of eminent sanctity, over whose youth she had watched 
with pious solicitude, and who was indebted to her prayers 
and instructions for his great proficiency in sublime per- 
fection. The day on which our abbess was to terminate 
her course, February 1, 523, having arrived, she received 
from the hands of this saintly priest the blessed body 
and blood of her Lord in the divine Eucharist, and, as 
it would seem, immediately after her spirit passed forth, 
and went to possess Him in that heavenly country where 
He is seen face to face and enjoyed without danger of 
ever losing Him. Her body was interred in the church 
adjoining her convent, but was some time after exhumed, 
and deposited in a splendid shrine near the high altar. 

In the ninth century, the country being desolated by the 
Danes, the remains of St. Bridgid were removed in order 



58 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [February 1 



to secure them from irreverence ; and, being transferred to 
Down-Patrick, were deposited in the same grave with those 
of the glorious St. Patrick. Their bodies, together with 
that of St. Columba, were translated afterwards to the 
cathedral of the same city, but their monument was de- 
stroyed in the reign of King Henry VIII. The head of 
St. Bridgid is now kept in the church of the Jesuits at 
Lisbon. 

Reflection. — Outward resemblance to Our Lady was St. 
Bridgid's peculiar privilege ; but all are bound to grow like 
her in interior purity of heart. This grace St. Bridgid has 
obtained in a wonderful degree for the daughters of her 
native land, and will never fail to procure for all her 
devout clients. 

ST. IGNATIUS, Bishop, Martyr. 

t. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, was the disciple of 
St. John. When Domitian persecuted the Church, 
St. Ignatius obtained peace for his own flock by fasting 
and prayer. But for his part he desired to suffer with 
Christ, and to prove himself a perfect disciple. In the 
year 107, Trajan came to Antioch, and forced the Chris- 
tians to choose between apostasy and death. " Who art 
thou, poor devil," the emperor said when Ignatius was 
brought before him, "who settest our commands at 
naught?" "Call not him 'poor devil/" Ignatius an- 
swered, "who bears God within him." And when the 
emperor questioned him about his meaning, Ignatius ex- 
plained that he bore in his heart Christ crucified for his 
sake. Thereupon the emperor condemned him to be torn 
to pieces by wild beasts at Eome. St. Ignatius thanked 
God, Who had so honored him, " binding him in the chains 
of Paul, His apostle." 

He journeyed to Eome, guarded by soldiers, and with no 
fear except of losing the martyr's crown. He was de- 
voured by lions in the Roman amphitheatre. The wild 
beasts left nothing of his body, except a few bones, which 
were reverently treasured at Antioch, until their removal 
to the Church of St. Clement at Eome, in 637. After the 




Febeuaey 2] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



59 



martyr's death, several Christians saw him in vision stand- 
ing before Christ, and interceding for them. 

Reflection. — Ask St. Ignatius to obtain for you the 
grace of profiting by all you have to suffer, and rejoicing in 
it as a means of likeness to your crucified Eedeemer. 

February 2.— THE PURIFICATION, COMMONLY 
CALLED CANDLEMAS-DAY. 

he law of God, given by Moses to the Jews, ordained 
that a woman, after childbirth, should continue for 
a certain time in a state which that law calls unclean, dur- 
ing which she was not to appear in public, nor presume to 
touch anything consecrated to God. This term was of 
forty days upon the birth of a son, and double that time 
for a daughter. On the expiration of the term, the mother 
was to bring to the door of the tabernacle, or Temple, a 
lamb and a young pigeon, or turtle-dove, as an offering to 
God. These being sacrificed to Almighty God by the 
priest, the woman was cleansed of the legal impurity and 
reinstated in her former privileges. 

A young pigeon, or turtle-dove, by way of a sin-offer- 
ing, was required of all, whether rich or poor; but as the 
expense of a lamb might be too great for persons in poor 
circumstances, they were allowed to substitute for it a 
second dove. 

Our Saviour having been conceived by the Holy Ghost, 
and His blessed Mother remaining always a spotless virgin, 
it is evident that she did not come under the law; but as 
the world was, as yet, ignorant of her miraculous concep- 
tion, she submitted with great punctuality and exactness 
to every humbling circumstance which the law required. 
Devotion and zeal to honor God, by every observance pre- 
scribed by His law, prompted Mary to perform this act of 
religion, though evident!)' exempt from the precept. Be- 
ing poor herself, she made the offering appointed for the 
poor ; but, however mean in itself, it was made with a per- 
fect heart, which is what God chiefly regards in all that is 
offered to Him. Besides the law which obliged the mother 
to purify herself, there was another which ordered that the 




60 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Febetjaby 2 



first-born son should be offered to God, and that, after its 
presentation, the child should be ransomed with a certain 
sum of money, and peculiar sacrifices offered on the occa- 
sion. 

Mary complies exactly with all these ordinances. She 
obeys not only in the essential points of the law, but has 
strict regard to all the circumstances. She remains forty 
days at home; she denies herself, all this time, the liberty 
of entering the Temple ; she partakes not of things sacred ; 
and on the day of her purification she walks several miles 
to Jerusalem, with the world's Redeemer in her arms. She 
waits for the priest at the gate of the Temple, makes her 
offerings of thanksgiving and expiation, presents her divine 
Son by the hands of the priest to His Eternal Father, with 
the most profound humility, adoration, and thanksgiving. 
She then redeems Him with five shekels, as the law ap- 
points, and receives Him back again as a sacred charge 
committed to her special care, till the Father shall again 
demand Him for the full accomplishment of man's re- 
demption. 

The ceremony of this day was closed by a third mystery 
— the meeting in the Temple of the holy persons Simeon 
and Anne with Jesus and His parents. Holy Simeon, on 
that occasion, received into his arms the object of all his 
desires and sighs, and praised God for being blessed with 
the happiness of beholding the so-much-longed-for Messias. 
He foretold to Mary her martyrdom of sorrow, and that 
Jesus brought redemption to those who would accept of it 
on the terms it was offered them ; but a heavy judgment on 
all infidels who should obstinately reject it, and on Chris- 
tians, also, whose lives were a contradiction to His holy 
maxims and example. Mary, hearing this terrible pre- 
diction, did not answer one word, felt no agitation of mind 
from the present, no dread for the future ; but courageously 
and sweetly committed all to God's holy will. Anne, also, 
the prophetess, who in her widowhood served God with 
great fervor, had the happiness to acknowledge and adore 
in this great mystery the Redeemer of the world. Simeon, 
having beheld Our Saviour, exclaimed : " Now dismiss 
Thy servant, 0 Lord, according to Thy word, because my 
eyes have seen Thy salvation." 



February 3] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



61 



This feast is called Candlemas, because the Church 
blesses the candles to be borne in the procession of the day. 

Reflection. — Let us strive to imitate the humility of 
the ever-blessed Mother of God, remembering that humility 
is the path which leads to abiding peace and brings us 
near to the consolations of God. 

February 3.— ST. BLASE, Bishop and Martyr, 

t. Blase devoted the earlier years of his life to the 
study of philosophy, and afterwards became a physi- 
cian. In the practice of his profession he saw so much of 
the miseries of life and the hollowness of worldly pleasures, 
that he resolved to spend the rest of his days in the service 
of God, and from being a healer of bodily ailments to be- 
come a physician of souls. The Bishop of Sebaste, in Ar- 
menia, having died, our Saint, much to the gratification of 
the inhabitants of that city, was appointed to succeed him. 
St. Blase at once began to instruct his people as much by 
his example as by his words, and the great virtues and 
sanctity of this servant of God were attested by many mira- 
cles. From all parts the people came flocking to him for 
the cure of bodily and spiritual ills. Agricolaus, Governor 
of Cappadocia and the Lesser Armenia, having begun a 
persecution by order of the Emperor Licinius, our Saint 
was seized and hurried off to prison. While on his way 
there, a distracted mother, whose only child was dying of a 
throat disease, threw herself at the feet of St. Blase and 
implored his intercession. Touched at her grief, the Saint 
offered up his prayers, and the child was cured; and since 
that time his aid has often been effectually solicited in 
cases of a similar disease. Eefusing to worship the false 
gods of the heathens, .St. Blase was first scourged ; his body 
was then torn with hooks, and finally he was beheaded in 
the year 316. 

Reflection. — There is no sacrifice which, by the aid of 
grace, human nature is not capable of accomplishing. 
When St. Paul complained to God of the violence of the 
temptation, God answered, " My grace is sufficient for thee, 
for power is made perfect in infirmity." 




62 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Februaby 4 



February 4.— St. JANE OF V ALOIS. 

orn of the blood royal of France, herself a queen, 
Jane of Valois led a life remarkable for its humilia- 
tions even in the annals of the Saints. Her father, Louis 
XI., who had hoped for a son to succeed him, banished 
Jane from his palace, and, it is said, even attempted her 
life. At the age of five the neglected child offered her 
whole heart to God, and yearned to do some special service 
in honor of His blessed Mother. At the king's wish, 
though against her own inclination, she was married to the 
Duke of Orleans. Towards an indifferent and unworthy 
husband her conduct was ever most patient and dutiful. 
Her prayers and tears saved him from a traitor's death 
and shortened the captivity which his rebellion had 
merited. Still nothing could win a heart which was al- 
ready given to another. When her husband ascended the 
throne as Louis XIL, his first act was to repudiate by false 
representations one who through twenty-two years of cruel 
neglect had been his true and loyal wife. At the final sen- 
tence of separation, the saintly queen exclaimed, " God be 
praised Who has allowed this, that I may serve Him better 
than I have heretofore done/' Eetiring to Bourges, she 
there realized her long-formed desire of founding the 
Order of the Annunciation, in honor of the Mother of God. 

Under the guidance of St. Francis of Paula, the director 
of her childhood, St. Jane was enabled to overcome the 
serious obstacles which even good people raised against the 
foundation of her new Order. In 1501 the rule of the An- 
nunciation was finally approved by Alexander VI. The 
chief aim of the institute was to imitate the ten virtues 
practised by Our Lady in the mystery of the Incarnation, 
the superioress being called " Ancelle," handmaid, in 
honor of Mary's humility. St. Jane built and endowed 
the first convent of the Order in 1502. She died in heroic 
sanctity, 1505, and was buried in the royal crown and 
purple, beneath which lay the habit of her Order. 

Reflection. — During the lifetime of St. Jane, the An- 
gelus was established in France. The sound of the Ave 




Febeuary 5] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



63 



thrice each day gave her hope in her sorrow, and fostered 
in her the desire still further to honor the Incarnation. 
How often might we derive grace from the same beautiful 
devotion, so enriched by the Church, yet neglected by so 
many Christians! 



February 5. — ST. AGATHA, Virgin, Martyr. 

t. Agatha was born in Sicily, of rich and noble par- 
ents — a child of benediction from the first, for she 
was promised to her parents before her birth, and conse- 
crated from her earliest infancy to God. In the midst of 
dangers and temptations she served Christ in purity of 
body and soul, and she died for the love of chastity. Quin- 
tanus, who governed Sicily under the Emperor Deems, had 
heard the rumor of her beauty and wealth, and he made 
the laws against the Christians a pretext for summoning 
her from Palermo to Catania, where he was at the time. 
" 0 Jesus Christ ! 99 she cried, as she set out on this dreaded 
journey, " all that I am is Thine ; preserve me against the 
tyrant." 

And Our Lord did indeed preserve one who had given 
herself so utterly to Him. He kept her pure and undefiled 
while she was imprisoned for a whole month under charge 
of an evil woman. He gave her strength to reply to the 
offer of her life and safety, if she would but consent to sin, 
" Christ alone is my life and my salvation." When Quin- 
tanus turned from passion to cruelty, and -cut off her 
breasts, Our Lord sent the Prince of His apostles to heal 
her. t » And when, after she had been rolled naked upon 
potsherds, she asked that her torments might be ended, her 
Spouse heard her prayer and took her to Himself. 

St. Agatha gave herself without reserve to Jesus Christ ; 
she followed Him in virginal purity, and then looked to 
Him for protection. And down to this day Christ has 
shown His tender regard for the very body of St. Agatha. 
Again and again, during the eruptions of Mount Etna, the 
people of Catania have exposed her veil for public venera- 
tion, and found safety by this means; and in modern 
times, on opening the tomb in which her body lies waiting 




64 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [February 5 



for the resurrection, they beheld the skin still entire, and 
felt the sweet fragrance which issued from this temple of 
the Holy Ghost. 

Reflection. — Purity is a gift of God : we can gain it 
and preserve it only by care and diligence in avoiding all 
that may prove an incentive to sin. 

THE MARTYRS OF JAPAN. 

Hbout forty years after St. Francis Xavier's death a 
persecution broke out in Japan, and all Christian 
rites were forbidden under pain of death. A confraternity 
of martyrs was at once formed, the object of which was to 
die for Christ. Even the little children joined it. Peter, 
a Christian child six years old, was awakened early and 
told that he was to be beheaded, together with his father. 
Strong in grace, he expressed his joy at the news, dressed 
himself in his gayest clothing, and took the hand of the 
soldier who was to lead him to death. The headless trunk 
of his father first met his view; calmly kneeling down, he 
prayed beside the corpse, and, loosening his collar, pre- 
pared his neck for the stroke. Moved by this touching 
scene, the executioner threw down his sabre and fled. 
None but a brutal slave could be found for the murderous 
task; with unskilled and trembling hand he hacked the 
child to pieces, who at last died without uttering a single 
cry. Christians were branded with the cross, or all but 
buried alive, while the head and arms were slowly sawn off 
with blunt weapons. The least shudder under their an- 
guish was interpreted into apostasy. The obstinate were 
put to the most cruel deaths, but the survivors only envied 
them. Five noblemen were escorted to the stake by 40,000 
Christians with flowers and lights, singing the litanies of 
Our Lady as they went. In the great martyrdom, at 
which thousands also assisted, the martyrs sent up a flood 
of melody from the fire, which only died away as one after 
another went to sing the new song in heaven. Later on, a 
more awful doom was invented. The victims were lowered 
into a sulphurous chasm, called the u mouth of hell/ 7 near 
which no bird or beast could live. The chief of these, 



February 6] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



65 



Paul Wiborg, whose family had been already massacred 
for the faith, was thrice let down; thrice he cried, with a 
loud voice, " Eternal praise be to the ever-adorable Sacra- 
ment of the Altar/ 9 The third time he went to his reward. 

Reflection. — If mere children face torture and death 
with joy for Christ, can we begrudge the slight penance 
He asks us to bear ? 

February 6. — ST. DOROTHY, Virgin, Martyr. 

t. Dorothy was a young virgin, celebrated at Csesarea. 
where she lived, for her angelic virtue. Her parents 
seem to have been martyred before her in the Diocletian 
persecution, and when the Governor Sapricius came to 
Caesarea he called her before him, and sent this child of 
martyrs to the home where they were waiting for her. 

.She was stretched upon the rack, and offered marriage 
if she would consent to sacrifice, or death if she refused. 
But she replied that " Christ was her only Spouse, and 
death her desire/ 5 She was then placed in charge of two 
women who had fallen away from the faith, in the hope 
that they might pervert her ; but the fire of her own heart 
rekindled the flame in theirs, and led them back to Christ. 
When she was set once more on the rack, Sapricius himself 
was amazed at the heavenly look she wore, and asked her 
the cause of her joy. "Because/ 5 she said, "I have 
brought back two souls to Christ, and because I shall soon 
be in heaven rejoicing with the angels/ 5 Her joy grew as 
she was buffeted in the face and her sides burned with 
plates of red-hot iron. " Blessed be Thou," she cried, 
when she was sentenced to be beheaded, — "blessed be 
Thou, 0 Thou Lover of souls ! Who dost call me to Para- 
dise, and invitest me to Thy nuptial chamber/ 5 

St. Dorothy suffered in the dead of winter, and it is said 
that on the road to her passion a lawyer called Theophilus 3 
who had been used to calumniate and persecute the Chris- 
tians, asked her, in mockery, to send him " apples or roses 
from the garden of her Spouse. 55 The Saint promised to 
grant his request, and, just before she died, a little child 
stood by her side bearing three apples and three roses. 




66 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [February 7 



She bade him take them to Theophilus and tell him this 
was the present which he sought from the garden of her 
Spouse. St. Dorothy had gone to heaven, and Theophilus 
was still making merry over his challenge to the Saint 
when the child entered his room. He saw that the child 
was an angel in disguise, and the fruit and flowers of no 
earthly growth. He was converted to the faith, and then 
shared in the martyrdom of St. Dorothy. 

Reflection. — Do you wish to be safe in the pleasures 
and happy in the troubles of the world? Pray for heav- 
enly desires, and say, with St. Philip, 66 Paradise, Para- 
dise ! » 

February 7.— ST. ROMUALD, Abbot. 

Xn 976, Sergius, a nobleman of Eavenna, quarrelled with 
a relative about an estate, and slew him in a duel. 
His son Eomuald, horrified at his father's crime, entered 
the Benedictine monastery at Classe, to do a forty days 5 
penance for him. This penance ended in his own vocation 
to religion. After three years at Classe, Eomuald went to 
live as a hermit near Venice, where he was joined by Peter 
Urseolus, Duke of Venice, and together they led a most 
austere life in the midst of assaults from the evil spirits. 
St. Eomuald founded many monasteries, the chief of which 
was that at Camaldoli, a wild desert place, where he built a 
church, which he surrounded with a number of separate 
cells for the solitaries who lived under his rule. His disci- 
ples were hence called Camaldolese. He is said to have 
seen here a vision of a mystic ladder, and his white-clothed 
monks ascending by it to heaven. Among his first dis- 
ciples were Sts. Adalbert and Boniface, apostles of Eussia, 
and Sts. John and Benedict of Poland, martyrs for the 
faith. He was an intimate friend of the Emperor St. 
Henry, and was reverenced and consulted by many great 
men of his time. He once passed seven years in solitude 
and complete silence. 

In his youth St. Eomuald was much troubled by temp- 
tations of the flesh. To escape them he had recourse to 
hunting, and in the woods first conceived his love for 



Febbuaby 8] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



67 



solitude. His father's sin, as we have seen, first prompted 
him to undertake a forty days' penance in the monastery, 
which he forthwith made his home. Some bad example 
of his fellow-monks induced him to leave them and adopt 
the solitary mode of life. The penance of Urseolus, who 
had obtained his power wrongfully, brought him his first 
disciple ; the temptations of the devil compelled him to his 
severe life; and finally the persecutions of others were the 
occasion of his settlement at Camaldoli, and the founda- 
tion of his Order. He died, as he had foretold twenty 
years before, alone, in his monastery of Val Castro, on the 
19th of June, 1027. 

Reflection. — St. Komuald's life teaches us that, if we 
only follow the impulse of the Holy Spirit, we shall easily 
find good everywhere, even on the most unlikely occa- 
sions. Our own sins, the sins of others, their ill will 
against us, or our own mistakes and misfortunes, are 
equally capable of leading us, with softened hearts, to the 
feet of God's mercy and love. 

February 8.— ST. JOHN OF MATHA. 

he life of St. John of Matha was one long course of 
self-sacrifice for the glory of God and the good of 
his neighbor. As a child, his chief delight was serving 
the poor; and he often told them he had come into the 
world for no other end but to w^ash their feet. He studied 
at Paris with such distinction that his professors advised 
him to become a priest, in order that his talents might 
render greater service to others; and, for this end, John 
gladly sacrificed his high rank and other worldly advan- 
tages. At his first Mass an angel appeared, clad in white, 
with a red and blue cross on his breast, and his hands re- 
posing on the heads of a Christian and a ^Moorish captive. 
To ascertain what this signified, John repaired to St. Felix 
of Valois, a holy hermit living near Meaux, under whose 
direction he led a life of extreme penance. The angel 
again appeared, and they then set out for Eome, to learn 
the will of God from the lips of the Sovereign Pontiff, 
who told them to devote themselves to the redemption of 




68 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [February 9 



captives. For this purpose they founded the Order of the 
Holy Trinity. The religious fasted every day, and gather- 
ing alms throughout Europe took them to Barbary, to re- 
deem the Christian slaves. They devoted themselves also 
to the sick and prisoners in all countries. The charity of 
St. John in devoting his life to the redemption of cap- 
tives was visibly blessed by God. On his second return 
from Tunis he brought back one hundred and twenty lib- 
erated slaves. But the Moors attacked him at sea, over- 
powered his vessel, and doomed it to destruction, with all 
on board, by taking away the rudder and sails, and leaving 
it to the mercy of the winds. St. John tied his cloak to 
the mast, and prayed, saying, "Let God arise, and let His 
enemies be scattered. 0 Lord, Thou wilt save the humble, 
and wilt bring down the eyes of the proud." Suddenly 
the wind filled the small sail, and, without guidance, car- 
ried the ship safely in a few days to Ostia, the port of 
Home, three hundred leagues from Tunis. Worn out by 
his heroic labors, John died in 1213, at the age of fifty- 
three. 

Reflection. — Let us never forget that our blessed Lord 
bade us love our neighbor not only as ourselves, but as He 
loved us, Who afterwards sacrificed Himself for us. 

February 9.— ST. APOLLONIA AND THE MAR- 
TYRS OF ALEXANDRIA. 

aT Alexandria, in 249, the mob rose in savage fury 
against the Christians. Metras, an old man, per- 
ished first. His eyes were pierced with reeds, and he was 
stoned to death. A woman named Quinta was the next 
victim. She was led to a heathen temple and bidden 
worship. She replied by cursing the false god again and 
again, and she ,too was stoned to death. After this the 
houses of the Christians were sacked and plundered. They 
took the spoiling of their goods with all joy. 

St. Apollonia^ an aged virgin, was the most famous 
among the martyrs. Her teeth were beaten out; she was 
led outside the city, a huge fire was kindled, and she was 
told she must deny Christ, or else be burned alive. She 



February 10] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



69 



was silent for a while, and then, moved by a special in- 
spiration of the Holy Ghost, she leaped into the fire and 
died in its flames. The same courage showed itself the 
next year, when Decius became emperor, and the persecu- 
tion grew till it seemed as if the very elect must fall away. 
The story of Dioscorus illustrates the courage of the Alex- 
andrian Christians, and the esteem they had for martyr- 
dom. He was a boy of fifteen. To the arguments of the 
judge he returned wise answers: he was proof against tor- 
ture. His older companions were executed, but Dioscorus 
was spared on account of his tender years; yet the Chris- 
tians could not bear to think that he had been deprived 
of the martyr's crown, except to receive it afterwards more 
gloriously. " Dioscorus/' writes Dionysius, Bishop of 
Alexandria at this time, "remains with us, reserved for 
some longer and greater combat." There were indeed 
many Christians who came, pale and trembling, to offer 
the heathen sacrifices. But the judges themselves were 
struck with horror at the multitudes who rushed to mar- 
tyrdom. Women triumphed over torture, till at last the 
judges were glad to execute them at once and put an end 
to the ignominy of their own defeat. 

Reflection. — Many saints, who were not martyrs, have 
longed to shed their blood for Christ. We, too, may pray 
for some portion of their spirit; and the least suffering for 
the faith, borne with humility and courage, is the proof 
that Christ has heard our prayer. 

February 10.— ST. SCHOLASTICA, Abbess. 

Of this Saint but little is known on earth, save that she 
was the sister of the great patriarch St. Benedict, 
and that, under his direction, she founded and governed a 
numerous community near Monte Casino. St. Gregory 
sums up her life by saying that she devoted herself to 
God from her childhood, and that her pure soul went to 
God in the likeness of a dove, as if to show that her life 
had been enriched with the fullest gifts of the Holy Spirit. 
Her brother was accustomed to visit her every year, for 
" she could not be sated or wearied with the words of grace 



70 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Fbbbuabt 11 



which flowed from his lips." On his last visit, after a day 
passed in spiritual converse, the Saint, knowing that her 
end was near, said, " My brother, leave me not, I pray yon, 
this night, but discourse with me till 'dawn on the bliss of 
those who see God in heaven." St. Benedict would not 
break his rule at the bidding of natural affection ; and then 
the Saint bowed her head on her hands and prayed; and 
there arose a storm so violent that St. Benedict could not 
return to his monastery, and they passed the night in 
heavenly conversation. Three days later St. Benedict saw 
in a vision the soul of his sister going up in the likeness of 
a dove into heaven. Then he gave thanks to God for the 
graces He had given her, and for the glory which had 
crowned them. When she died, St. Benedict, her spiritual 
daughters, and the monks sent by St. Benedict mingled 
their tears and prayed, "Alas! alas! dearest mother, to 
whom dost thou leave us now? Pray for us to Jesus, to 
Whom thou art gone." They then devoutly celebrated 
holy Mass, " commending her soul to God ; " and her body 
was borne to Monte Casino, and laid by her brother in the 
tomb he had prepared for himself. "And they bewailed 
her many days;" and St. Benedict said, "Weep not, sis- 
ters and brothers; for assuredly Jesus has taken her be- 
fore us to be our aid and defence against all our enemies, 
that we may stand in the evil day and be in all things per- 
fect." She died about the year 543. 

Reflection. — Our relatives must be loved in and for 
God; otherwise the purest affection becomes inordinate 
and is so much taken from Him. 

February n.— ST. SEVERINUS, Abbot of Agaunum. 

T. Severinus, of a noble family in Burgundy, was 
educated in the Catholic faith, at a time when the 
Arian heresy reigned in that country. He forsook the 
world in his youth, and dedicated himself to God in 
the monastery of Agaunum, which then only consisted of 
scattered celis, till the Catholic King Sigismund built 
there the great abbey of St. Maurice. St. Severinus was 
the holy abbot of that place, and had governed his com- 




February 12] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



71 



munity many years in the exercise of penance and charity, 
when, in 504, Glovis, the first Christian king of France, 
lying ill of a fever, which his physicians had for two years 
ineffectually endeavored to remove, sent his chamberlain 
to conduct the Saint to court ; for it was said that the sick 
from all parts recovered their health by his prayers. St. 
Severinus took leave of his monks, telling them he should 
never see them more in this world. On his journey he 
healed Eulalius, Bishop of Nevers, who had been for some 
time deaf and dumb; also a leper, at the gates of Paris; 
and coming to the palace he immediately restored the king 
to perfect health, by putting on him his own cloak. The 
king, in gratitude, distributed large alms to the poor and 
released all his prisoners. St. Severinus, returning to- 
ward Agaunum, stopped at Chateau-Landon in Gatinois, 
where two priests served God in a solitary chapel, among 
whom he was admitted, at his request, as a stranger, and 
was soon greatly admired by them for his sanctity. He 
foresaw his death, which happened shortly after, in 507. 
The place is now an abbey of reformed -canons regular of 
St. Austin. The Huguenots scattered the greater part of 
his relics when they plundered this church. 

Reflection. — God loads with His favor those who de- 
light in exercising mercy. u According to thy ability be 
merciful: if thou hast much, give abundantly; if thou 
hast little, take care even so to bestow willingly a little/' 

February 12.— ST. BENEDICT OF ANIAN. 

enedict was the son of Aigulf, Governor of Langue- 
doc, and was born about 750. In his early youth he 
served as cup-bearer to King Pepin and his son Charle- 
magne, enjoying under them great honors and possessions. 
Grace entered his soul at the age of twenty, and he re- 
solved to seek the kingdom of God with his whole heart. 
Without relinquishing his place at court, he lived there a 
most mortified life for three years; then a narrow escape 
from drowning made him vow to quit the world, and he 
entered the cloister of St. Seine. In reward for his 
heroic austerities in the monastic state, God bestowed upon 




72 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Febeuaet is 



him the gift of tears, and inspired him with a knowledge 
of spiritual things. As procurator, he was most careful 
of the wants of the brethren, and most hospitable to the 
poor and to guests. Declining to accept the abbacy, he 
built himself a little hermitage on the brook Anian, and 
lived some years in great solitude and poverty; hut the 
fame of his sanctity drawing many souls around him, he 
was obliged to build a large abbey, and within a short 
time governed three hundred monks. He became the 
great restorer of monastic discipline throughout France 
and Germany. First, he drew up with immense labor a 
code of the rules of St. Benedict, his great namesake, 
which he collated with those of the chief monastic found- 
ers, showing the uniformity of the exercises in each, and 
enforced by his " Penitential " their exact observance ; 
secondly, he minutely regulated all matters regarding 
food, clothing, and every detail of life; and thirdly, by 
prescribing the same for all, he excluded jealousies and 
insured perfect charity. In a Provincial Council held in 
813, under Charlemagne, at which he was present, it was 
declared that all monks of the West should adopt the rule 
of St. Benedict. He died February 11, 821. 

Reflection. — The decay of monastic discipline and its 
restoration by St. Benedict prove that none are safe from 
loss of fervor, but that all can regain it by fidelity to grace. 

February 13. — ST. CATHERINE OF RICCL 

Hlexandrina of Eicei was the daughter of a noble 
Florentine. At the age of thirteen she entered the 
Third Order of St. Dominic in the monastery of Prato, 
taking in religion the name of Catherine, after her patron 
and namesake of Siena. Her special attraction was to the 
Passion of Christ, in which she was permitted miraculously 
to participate. In the Lent of 1541, being then twenty-one 
years of age, she had a vision of the crucifixion so heart- 
rending that she was confined to bed for three weeks, and 
was only restored, on Holy Saturday, by an apparition of 
St. Mary Magdalene and Jesus risen. During twelve years 
she passed every Friday in ecstasy. She received the sa- 



February 14] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



73 



cred stigmata, the wound in the left side, and the crown of 
thorns. All these favors gave her continual and intense 
suffering, and inspired her with a loving sympathy for the 
yet more bitter tortures of the Holy Souls. In their be- 
half she offered all her prayers and penances; and her 
charity toward them became so famous throughout Tus- 
cany that after every death the friends of the deceased 
hastened to Catherine to secure her prayers. St. Cath- 
erine offered many prayers, fasts, and penances for a cer- 
tain great man, and thus obtained his salvation. It was 
revealed to her that he was in purgatory; and such was 
her love of Jesus crucified that she offered to suffer all the 
pains about to be inflicted on that soul. Her prayer was 
granted. The soul entered heaven, and for forty days 
Catherine suffered indescribable agonies. Her body was 
covered with blisters, emitting heat so great that her cell 
seemed on fire. Her flesh appeared as if roasted, and her 
tongue like red-hot iron. Amid all she was calm and 
joyful, saying, " I long to suffer all imaginable pains, that 
souls may quickly see and praise their Kedeemer." She 
knew by revelation the arrival of a soul in purgatory, and 
the hour of its release. She held intercourse with the 
Saints in glory, and frequently conversed with St, Philip 
Neri at Borne without ever leaving her convent at Prato. 
She died, amid angels' songs, in 1589. 

Reflection. — If we truly love Jesus crucified, we must 
long, as did St. Catherine, to release the Holy Souls 
whom He has redeemed but has left to our charity to set 
free. 

February 14.— ST. VALENTINE, Priest and Martyr. 

Valentine was a holy priest in Eome, who, with St. 
Marius and his family, assisted the martyrs in the 
persecution under Claudius II. He was apprehended, and 
sent by the emperor to the prefect of Eome, who, on find- 
ing all his promises to make him renounce his faith in- 
effectual, commanded him to be beaten with clubs, and 
afterward to be beheaded, which was executed on the 14th 
of February, about the year 270. Pope Julius I. is said to 



74 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Februaey 15 



have built a church near Ponte Mole to his memory, which 
for a long time gave name to the gate now called Porta 
del Popolo, formerly Porta Valentini. The greater part 
of his relics are now in the Church of St. Praxedes. To 
abolish the heathens' lewd superstitious custom of boys 
drawing the names of girls, in honor of their goddess Feb- 
ruata Juno, on the 15th of this month, several zealous 
pastors substituted the names of Saints in billets given on 
this day. 

Reflection. — In the cause of justice and truth, prudence 
should not be held in account ; otherwise prudence is mere 
human respect. St. Paul says : " The wisdom of the flesh 
is death." 

February 15.— STS. FAUSTINUS and JO VITA, 

Martyrs. 

Eaustinus and Jovita were brothers, nobly born, and 
zealous professors of the Christian religion, which 
they preached without fear in their city of Brescia, while 
the bishop of that place lay concealed during the persecu- 
tion. Their remarkable zeal excited the fury of the 
heathens against them, and procured them a glorious death 
for their faith at Brescia in Lombardy, under the Em- 
peror Adrian. Julian, a heathen lord, apprehended them ; 
and the emperor himself, passing through Brescia, when 
neither threats nor torments could shake their constancy, 
commanded them to be beheaded. They seem to have 
suffered about the year 121. The city of Brescia honors 
them as its chief patrons, possesses their relics, and a very 
ancient church in that city bears their names. 

Reflection. — The spirit of Christ is a spirit of martyr- 
dom — at least of mortification and penance. It is al- 
ways the spirit of the cross. The more we share in the 
suffering life of Christ, the greater share we inherit in His 
spirit, and in the fruit of His death. To souls mortified 
to their senses and disengaged from earthly things, God 
gives frequent foretastes of the sweetness of eternal life, 
and the most ardent desires of possessing Him in His 



February 16] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



75 



glory. This is the spirit of martyrdom, which entitles a 
Christian to a happy resurrection and to the bliss of the 
life to come. 

February t6. — BLESSED JOHN DE BRITTO, 

Martyr. 

Ooisr Pedro II. of Portugal, when a child, had among 
his little pages a modest boy of rich and princely 
parents. Much had John de Britto — for so was he called 
— to bear from his careless-living companions, to whom 
his holy life was a reproach. A terrible illness made him 
turn for aid to St. Francis Xavier, a Saint so well loved 
by the Portuguese ; and when, in answer to his prayers, he 
recovered, his mother vested him for a year in the dress 
worn in those days by the Jesuit Fathers. From that time 
John's heart burned to follow the example of the Apostle 
of the Indies. He gained his wish. On December 17, 
1662, he entered the novitiate of the Society at Lisbon; 
and eleven years later, in spite of the most determined 
opposition of his family and of the court, he left all to go 
to convert the Hindus of Madura. When Blessed John's 
mother knew that her son was going to the Indies, she 
used all her influence to prevent him leaving his own 
country, and persuaded the Papal Nuncio to interfere. 
" God, Who called me from the world into religious life, 
now calls me from Portugal to India/' was the reply of the 
future martyr. " Not to answer the vocation as I ought, 
would be to provoke the justice of God. As long as I live, 
I shall never cease striving to gain a passage to India." 
For fourteen years he toiled, preaching, converting, bap- 
tizing multitudes, at the cost of privations, hardships, and 
persecutions. At last, after being seized, tortured, and 
nearly massacred by the heathens, he was banished from 
the country. Forced to return to Portugal, John once 
more broke through every obstacle, and went back again 
to his labor of love. Like St. John the Baptist, he died a 
victim to the anger of a guilty woman, whom a convert 
king had put aside, and, like the Precursor, he was beheaded 
after a painful imprisonment. 



76 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [February 17 



Reflection. — " It is a great honor, a great glory to serve 
God, and to contemn all things for God. They will have 
a great grace who freely subject themselves to God's most 
holy will." — The Imitation of Christ. 

ST. ONESIMUS, Disciple of St. Paul. 

e was a Phrygian by birth, slave to Philemon, a person 
of note of the city of Colossse, converted to the faith 
by St. Paul. Having robbed his master and being obliged 
to fly, he providentially met with St. Paul, then a prisoner 
for the faith at Eome, who there converted and baptized 
him, and sent him with his canonical letter of recommen- 
dation to Philemon, by whom he was pardoned, set at 
liberty, and sent back to his spiritual father, whom he 
afterwards faithfully served. That apostle made him, 
with Tychicus, the bearer of his Epistle to the Colossians, 
and afterwards, as St. Jerome and other Fathers witness, 
a preacher of the Gospel and a bishop. He was crowned 
with martyrdom under Domitian in the year 95. 

Reflection. — With what excess of goodness does God 
communicate Himself to souls that open themselves to 
Him! With what caresses does He often visit them! 
With what a profusion of graces does He enrich and 
strengthen them! In our trials and temptations let us 
then oifer our hearts to God, remembering, as St. Paul 
says, " To them that love God all things work together 
unto good." 

February 17.— ST. FLAVIAN, Bishop, Martyr, 

Hlavian was elected Patriarch of Constantinople in 
447. His short episcopate of two years was a time 
of conflict and persecution from the first. Chrysaphius, 
the emperor's favorite, tried to extort a large sum of money 
from him on the occasion of his consecration. His fidelity 
in refusing this simoniacai betrayal of his trust brought on 
him the enmity of the most powerful man in the empire. 
A graver trouble soon arose. In 448 Flavian had to 




February 18] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



77 



condemn the rising heresy of the monk Eutyches, who ob- 
stinately denied that Our Lord was in two perfect natures 
after His Incarnation. Eutyches drew to his cause all the 
bad elements which so early gathered about the Byzantine 
court. His intrigues were long baffled by the vigilance of 
Flavian; but at last he obtained from the emperor the 
assembly of a council at Ephesus, in August 449, presided 
over by his friend Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria. 
Into this "robber council," as it is called, Eutyches en- 
tered, surrounded by soldiers. The Roman legates could 
not even read the Pope's letters; and at the first sign of 
resistance to the condemnation of Flavian, fresh troops 
entered with drawn swords, and, in spite of the protests of 
the legates, terrified most of the bishops into acquies- 
cence. 

The fury of Dioscorus reached its height when Flavian 
appealed to the Holy See. Then it was that he so forgot 
his apostolic office as to lay violent hands on his adversary. 
St. Flavian was set upon by Dioscorus and others, thrown 
down, beaten, kicked, and finally carried into banishment. 
Let us contrast their ends. Flavian clung to the teaching 
of the Eoman Pontiff, and sealed his faith with his blood. 
Dioscorus excommunicated the Vicar of Christ, and died 
obstinate and impenitent in the heresy of Eutyches. 

Reflection. — By his unswerving loyalty to the Vicar of 
Christ, Flavian held fast to the truth and gained the 
martyr's crown. Let us learn from him to turn instinc- 
tively to that one true guide in all matters concerning our 
salvation. 

February 18.— ST. SIMEON, Bishop, Martyr. 

t. Simeon was the son of Cleophas, otherwise called 
Alpheus, brother to St. Joseph, and of Mary, sister 
to the Blessed Virgin. He was therefore nephew both to 
St. Joseph and to the Blessed Virgin, and cousin to Our 
Saviour. We cannot doubt but that he was an early fol- 
lower of Christ, and that he received the Holy Ghost on 
the day of Pentecost, with the Blessed Virgin and the 
apostles. When the Jew^s massacred St. James the Lesser, 




78 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [February 18 



his brother Simeon reproached them for their atrocious 
cruelty. St. James, Bishop of Jerusalem, being put to 
death in the year 62, twenty-nine years after Our Saviour's 
Resurrection, the apostles and disciples met at Jerusalem 
to appoint him a successor. They unanimously chose St. 
Simeon, who had probably before assisted his brother in 
the government of that Church. 

In the year 66, in which Sts. Peter and Paul suffered 
martyrdom at Rome, the civil war began in Judea, by the 
seditions of the Jews against the Romans. The Christians 
in Jerusalem were warned by God of the impending de- 
struction of that city. They therefore departed out of it 
the same year, — before Vespasian, Nero's general, and 
afterwards emperor, entered Judea, — and retired beyond 
Jordan to a small city called Pelia, having St. Simeon at 
their head. After the taking and burning of Jerusalem 
they returned thither again, and settled themselves amidst 
its ruins, till Adrian afterwards entirely razed it. The 
Church here flourished, and multitudes of Jews were con- 
verted by the great number of prodigies and miracles 
wrought in it. 

Vespasian and Domitian had commanded all to be put 
to death who were of the race of David. St. Simeon had 
escaped their searches; but, Trajan having given the same 
order, certain heretics and Jews accused the Saint, as being 
both of the race of David and a Christian, to Atticus, the 
Roman governor in Palestine. The holy bishop was con- 
demned to be crucified. After having undergone the usual 
tortures during several days, which, though one hundred 
and twenty years old, he suffered with so much patience 
that he drew on him a universal admiration, and that of 
Atticus in particular, he died in 107. He must have gov- 
erned the Church of Jerusalem about forty-three years. 

Reflection. — We bear the name of Christians, but are 
full of the spirit of worldlings, and our actions are in- 
fected with the poison of the world. We secretly seek 
ourselves, even when we flatter ourselves that God is our 
only aim; and whilst we undertake to convert the world, 
we suffer it to pervert us. When shall we begin to study 
to crucify our passions and die to ourselves, that we may 



February 19] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



79 



lay a solid foundation of true virtue and establish its 
reign in our hearts? 

February 19. — ST. BARBATUS, Bishop. 

T. Barbatus was born in the territory of Benevento in 
Italy, toward the end of the pontificate of St. Greg- 
ory the Great, in the beginning of the seventh century. 
His parents gave him a Christian education, and Barbatus 
in his youth laid the foundation of that eminent sanctity 
which recommends him to our veneration. The innocence, 
simplicity, and purity of his manners, and his extraordi- 
nary progress in all virtues, qualified him for the service 
of the altar, to which he was assumed by taking Holy 
Orders as soon as the canons of the Church would allow it. 
He was immediately employed by his bishop in preaching, 
for which he had an extraordinary talent, and, after some 
time, made curate of St. BasiFs in Morcona, a town near 
Benevento. His parishioners were steeled in their irregu- 
larities, and they treated him as a disturber of their peace, 
and persecuted him with the utmost violence. Finding 
their malice conquered by his patience and humility, and 
his character shining still more bright, they had recourse 
to slanders, in which their virulence and success were such 
that he was obliged to withdraw his charitable endeavors 
among them. Barbatus returned to Benevento, where he 
was received with joy. When St. Barbatus entered upon 
his ministry in that city, the Christians themselves re- 
tained many idolatrous superstitions, which even their 
duke, Prince Bomuald, authorized by his example, though 
son of Grimoald, King of the Lombards, who had edified 
all Italy by his conversion. They expressed a religious 
veneration for a golden viper, and prostrated themselves 
before it: they also paid superstitious honor to a tree, on 
which they hung the skin of a wild beast; and those cere- 
monies were closed by public games, in which the skin 
served for a mark at which bowmen shot arrows over their 
shoulders. St. Barbatus preached zealously against these 
abuses, and at length he roused the attention of the people 
by foretelling the distress of their city, and the calamities 




80 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [February 20 



which it was to suffer from the army of the Emperor 
Constant who, landing soon after in Italy, laid siege to 
Benevento. Ildebrand, Bishop of Benevento, dying dur- 
ing the siege, after the public tranquillity was restored 
St. Barbatus was consecrated bishop on the 10th of March, 
663. Barbatus, being invested with the episcopal char- 
acter, pursued and completed the good work which he 
had so happily begun, and destroyed every trace of super- 
stition in the whole state. In the year 680 he assisted 
in a council held by Pope Agatho at Borne, and the year 
following in the Sixth General Council held at Constanti- 
nople against the Monothelites. He did not long survive 
this great assembly, for he died on the 29th of February, 
682, being about seventy years old, almost nineteen of 
which he had spent in the episcopal chair. 

Reflection. — St. Augustine says: "When the enemy 
has been cast out of your hearts, renounce him, not only in 
word, but in work; not only by the sound of the lips, but 
in every act of your life." 



February 20. — ST. EUCHERIUS, Bishop. 

i^xHis Saint was born at Orleans, of a very illustrious 
\mJ family. At his birth his parents dedicated him to 
God, and set him to study when he was but seven years 
old, resolving to omit nothing that could be done toward 
cultivating his mind or forming his heart. His improve- 
ment in virtue kept pace with his progress in learning : he 
meditated assiduously on the sacred writings, especially on 
St. Paul's manner of speaking on the world and its enjoy- 
ments as mere empty shadows that deceive us and vanish 
away. These reflections at length sank so deep into his 
mind that he resolved to quit the world. To put this 
design in execution, about the year 714 he retired to the 
abbey of Jumiege in Normandy, where he spent six or 
seven years in the practice of penitential austerities and 
obedience. Suavaric, his uncle, Bishop of Orleans, having 
died, the senate and people, with the clergy of that city, 
begged permission to elect Bucherius to the vacant see. 
The Saint entreated his monks to screen him from the 



Februabt 21] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



81 



dangers that threatened him ; but they preferred the public 
good to their private inclinations, and resigned him for 
that important charge. He was consecrated with uni- 
versal applause in 721. Charles Martel, to defray the 
expenses of his wars and other undertakings, often stripped 
the churches of their revenues. St. Eucherius reproved 
these encroachments with so much zeal that, in the year 
737, Charles banished him to Cologne. The extraordinary 
esteem which his virtue procured him in that city moved 
Charles to order him to be conveyed thence to a strong 
place in the territory of Liege. Kobert, the governor of 
that country, was so charmed with his virtue that he made 
him the distributor of his large alms, and allowed him to 
retire to the monastery of Sarchinium, or St. Tron's. 
Here prayer and contemplation were his whole employment 
till the year 743, in which he died, on the 20th of February. 

Reflection.— Nothing softens the soul and weakens 
piety so much as frivolous indulgence. God has revealed 
what high store He sets by " retirement 99 in these words : 
"I will lead her into solitude, and I will speak to her 
heart." 

February 21.— ST. SEVERIANUS, Martyr, Bishop. 

XN the reign of Marcian and St. Pulcheria, the Council 
of Chalcedon, which condemned the Eutychian 
heresy, was received by St. Euthymius and by a great 
part of the monks of Palestine. But Theodosius, an ig- 
norant Eutychian monk, and a man of a most tyrannical 
temper, under the protection of the Empress Eudoxia, 
widow of Theodosius the Younger, who lived at Jerusalem, 
perverted many among the monks themselves, and having 
obliged Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, to withdraw, un- 
justly possessed himself of that important see, and, in a 
cruel persecution which he raised, filled Jerusalem with 
blood ; then, at the head of a band of soldiers, he carried 
desolation over the country. Many, however, had the 
courage to stand their ground. No one resisted him with 
greater zeal and resolution than Severianus, Bishop of 
Scythopolis, and his recompense was the crown of martyr- 



82 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Febbuaby 22 



dom; for the furious soldiers seized his person, dragged 
him out of the city, and massacred him, in the latter 
part of the year 452 or in the beginning of the year 453. 

Reflection. — With what floods of tears can we suffi- 
ciently bewail so grievous a misfortune, and. implore the 
divine mercy in behalf of so many souls ! How ought we 
to be alarmed at the consideration of so many dreadful 
examples of God's inscrutable judgments, and tremble 
for ourselves ! " Let him who stands beware lest he fall." 
" Hold fast what thou hast," says the oracle of the Holy 
Ghost to every one of us, " lest another bear away thy 
crown." 

February 22. — ST. PETER'S CHAIR AT ANTIOCH. 

hat St. Peter, before he went to Some, founded the 
see of Antioch is attested by many Saints. It was 
just that the Prince of the Apostles should take this city 
under his particular care and inspection, which was then 
the capital of the East, and. in which the faith took so 
early and so deep root as to give birth in it to the name of 
Christians. St. Chrysostom says that St. Peter made 
there a long stay; St. Gregory the Great, that he was 
seven years Bishop of Antioch; not that he resided there 
all that time, but only that he had a particular care over 
that Church. If he sat twenty-five years at Eome, the 
date of his establishing his chair at Antioch must be 
within three years after Our Saviour's Ascension ; for in 
that supposition he must have gone to Eome in the second 
year of Claudius. In the first ages it was customary, es- 
pecially in the East, for every Christian to keep the anni- 
versary of his Baptism, on which he renewed his baptismal 
vows and gave thanks to God for his heavenly adoption: 
this they called their spiritual birthday. The bishops in 
like manner kept the anniversary of their own consecra- 
tion, as appears from four sermons of St. Leo on the 
anniversary of his accession or assumption to the pon- 
tifical dignity; and this was frequently continued after 
their decease by the people, out of respect for their mem- 
ory. St. Leo says we ought to celebrate the chair of St. 




February 23] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



83 



Peter with no less joy than the day of his martyrdom; 
for as in this he was exalted to a throne of glory in heaven, 
so by the former he was installed head of the Church on 
earth. 

Reflection. — On this festival we are especially bound to 
adore and thank the Divine Goodness for the establish- 
ment and propagation of His Church, and earnestly to 
pray that in His mercy He preserve the same, and dilate 
its pale, that His name may be glorified by all nations, and 
by all hearts, to the boundaries of the earth, for His di- 
vine honor and the salvation of souls, framed to His 
divine image, and the price of His adorable blood. 

February 23. — ST. PETER DAMIAN. 

@t. Peter Damiax was born in 988, and lost both 
parents at an early age. His eldest brother, in 
whose hands he was left, treated him so cruelly that a 
younger brother, a priest, moved by his piteous state, sent 
him to the University of Parma, where he acquired great 
distinction. His studies were sanctified by vigils, fasts, 
and prayers, till at last, thinking that all this was only 
serving God by halves, he resolved to leave the world. He 
joined the monks at Font-Avellano, then in the greatest 
repute, and by his wisdom and sanctity rose to be Superior. 
He was employed on the most delicate and difficult mis- 
sions, amongst others the reform of ecclesiastical commu- 
nities, which was effected by his zeal. Seven Popes in 
succession made him their constant adviser, and he was at 
last created Cardinal Bishop of Ostia. He withstood 
Henry IV. of Germany, and labored in defence of Alex- 
ander II. against the Antipope, whom he forced to yield 
and seek for pardon. He was charged, as Papal Legate, 
with the repression of simony; again, was commissioned 
to settle discords amongst various bishops, and finally, in 
1072, to adjust the affairs of the Church at Eavenna. He 
was laid low by a fever on his homeward journey, and died 
at Faenza, in a monastery of his order, on the eighth day 
of his sickness, whilst the monks chanted matins around 
him. 



84 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [February 23 

Reflection. — The Saints studied, not in order to be ac- 
counted learned, but to become perfect. This only is wis- 
dom and true greatness, to account ourselves as ignorant, 
and to adhere in all things to the teachings and instincts 
of the Church. 



ST. SERENUS, a Gardener, Martyr. 

erenus was by birth a Grecian. He quitted estate, 
friends, and country to serve God in celibacy, pen- 
ance, and prayer. With this design he bought a garden in 
Sirmium in Pannonia, which he cultivated with his own 
hands, and lived on the fruits and herbs it produced. One 
day there came thither a woman, with her two daughters. 
Serenus, seeing them come up, advised them to withdraw, 
and to conduct themselves in future as decency required in 
persons of their sex and condition. The woman, stung at 
our Saint's charitable remonstrance, retired in confusion, 
but resolved on revenging the supposed affront. She ac- 
cordingly wrote to her husband that Serenus had insulted 
her. He, on receiving her letter, went to the emperor to 
demand justice, whereupon the emperor gave him a letter 
to the governor of the province to enable him to obtain 
satisfaction. The governor ordered Serenus to be imme- 
diately brought before him. .Serenus, on hearing the 
charge, answered, " I remember that, some time ago, a 
lady came into my garden at an unseasonable hour, and I 
own I took the liberty to tell her it was against decency 
for one of her sex and quality to be abroad at such an 
hour/' This plea of Serenus having put the officer to the 
blush for his wife's conduct, he dropped his prosecution. 
But the governor, suspecting by this answer that Serenus 
might be a Christian, began to question him, saying, " Who 
are you, and what is your religion ? " Serenus, without 
hesitating one moment, answered, " I am a Christian. 
It seemed a while ago as if God rejected me as a stone 
unfit to enter His building, but He has the goodness to 
take me now to be placed in it; I am ready to suffer all 
things for His name, that I may have a part in His 
kingdom with His Saints." The governor, hearing this, 

» 




February 24] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



85 



burst into rage and said, " Since yon sought to elude by 
flight the emperor's edicts, and have positively refused to 
sacrifice to the gods, I condemn you for these crimes to 
lose your head." The sentence was no sooner pronounced 
than the Saint was carried off and beheaded, on the 23d 
of February, in 307. 

Reflection. — The garden afforflB a beautiful emblem of 
a Christian's continual progress in the path of virtue. 
Plants always mount upwards, and never stop in their 
growth till they have attained to that maturity which the 
Author of nature has prescribed. So in a Christian, 
everything ought to carry him toward that perfection 
which the sanctity of his state requires; and every desire 
of his soul, every action of his life should be a step ad- 
vancing to this in a direct line. 

February 24.— ST. MATTHIAS, Apostle. 

fter our blessed Lord's Ascension His disciples met 
together, with Mary His mother and the eleven 
apostles, in an upper room at Jerusalem. The little com- 
pany numbered no more than one hundred and twenty 
souls. They were waiting for the promised coming of the 
Holy Ghost, and they persevered in prayer. Meanwhile 
there was a solemn act to be performed on the part of the 
Church, which could not be postponed. The place of the 
fallen Judas must be filled up, that the elect number of the 
apostles might be complete. St. Peter, therefore, as Vicar 
of Christ, arose to announce the divine decree. That which 
the Holy Ghost had spoken by the mouth of David concern- 
ing Judas, he said, must be fulfilled. Of him it had been 
written, " His bishopric let another take." A choice, there- 
fore, was to be made of one among those who had been 
their companions from the beginning, who could bear wit- 
ness to the Eesurrection of Jesus. Two were named of 
equal merit, J oseph called Barsabas, and Matthias. Then, 
after praying to God, Who knows the hearts of all men, to 
show which of these He had chosen, they cast lots, and the 
lot fell upon Matthias, who was forthwith numbered with 
the apostles. It is recorded of the Saint, thus wonderfully 




86 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [February 25 



elected to so high a vocation, that he was above all remark- 
able for his mortification of the flesh. It was thus that he 
made his election sure. 

Reflection. — Our ignorance of many points in St. Mat- 
thias's life serves to fix the attention all the more firmly 
upon these two — the occasion of his -call to the apostolate, 
and the fact of his perseverance. We then naturally turn 
in thought to our own vocation and our own end. 

February 25. — ST. TARASIUS. 

arasius was born at Constantinople about the middle 
of the eighth century, of a noble family. His mother 
Eucratia, brought him up in the practice of the most 
eminent virtues. By his talents and virtue he gained 
the esteem of all, and was raised to the greatest honors of 
the empire, being made consul, and afterwards first secre- 
tary of state to the Emperor Constantine and the Empress 
Irene, his mother. In the midst of the court, and in its 
highest honors, he led a life like that of a religious man. 
Paul, Patriarch of Constantinople, the third of that name, 
though he had conformed in some respects to the then 
reigning heresy, had several good qualities, and was not 
only beloved by the people for his charity to the poor, but 
highly esteemed by the whole court for his great prudence. 
Touched with remorse, he quitted the patriarchal see, and 
put on a religious habit in the monastery of Floras in 
Constantinople. Tarasius was chosen to succeed him by 
the unanimous consent of the court, clergy, and people. 
Finding it in vain to oppose his election, he declared that 
he could not in conscience accept of the government of a 
see which had been cut off from the Catholic communion, 
except on condition that a general council should be called 
to compose the disputes which divided the Church at that 
time in relation to holy images. This being agreed to, he 
was solemnly declared patriarch, and consecrated soon 
after, on Christmas Day. The council was opened on the 
1st of August, in the Church of the Apostles at Constanti- 
nople, in 786 ; but, being disturbed by the violences of the 
Iconoclasts, it adjourned, and met again the year following 




February 26] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



87 



in the Church of St. Sophia at Nice. The council, having 
declared the sense of the Church in relation to the matter 
in debate, which was found to be the allowing to holy 
pictures and images a relative honor, was closed with the 
usual acclamations and prayer's for the prosperity of the 
emperor and empress; after which, synodal letters were 
sent to all the churches, and in particular to the Pope, who 
approved the council. The life of this holy patriarch was 
a model of perfection to his clergy and people. His table 
contained barely the necessaries of life ; he allowed himself 
very little time for sleep, being always up the first and last 
in his family. Eeading and prayer filled all his leisure 
hours. The emperor having become enamoured of Theo- 
dota, a maid of honor to his wife, the Empress Mary, was 
resolved to divorce the latter. He used all his efforts to 
gain the patriarch over to his desires, but St. Tarasius 
resolutely refused to countenance the iniquity. The holy 
man gave up his soul to God in peace on the 25th of Feb- 
ruary, 806, after having sat twenty-one years and two 
months. 

Reflection. — The highest praise which Scripture pro- 
nounces on the holy man Job is comprised in these words, 
" He was simple and upright." 

February 26. — ST. PORPHYRY, Bishop. 

gT the age of twenty-five, Porphyry, a rich citizen of 
Thessalonica, left the world for one of the great re- 
ligious houses in the desert of Scete. Here he remained 
five years, and then, finding himself drawn to a more soli- 
tary life, passed into Palestine, where he spent a similar 
period in the severest penance, till ill health obliged him to 
moderate his austerities. He then made his home in Jeru- 
salem, and in spite of his ailments visited the Holy Places 
every day; thinking, says his biographer, so little of his 
sickness that he seemed to be afflicted in another body, and 
not his own. About this time God put it into his heart to 
sell all he had and give to the poor, and then in reward of 
the sacrifice restored him by a miracle to perfect health. 
In 393 he was ordained priest and intrusted with the care 



88 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [February 27 



of the relics of the true cross ; three years later, in spite of 
all the resistance his humility could make, he was conse- 
crated Bishop of Gaza. That city was a hotbed of pagan- 
ism, and Porphyry found in it an ample scope for his 
apostolic zeal. His labors and the miracles which at- 
tended them effected the conversion of many; and an 
imperial edict for the destruction of the pagan temples, 
obtained through the influence of St. John Chrysostom, 
greatly strengthened his hands. When St. Porphyry first 
went to Gaza, he found there one temple more splendid 
than the rest, in honor of the chief god. When the edict 
went forth to destroy all traces of heathen worship, St. 
Porphyry determined to put Satan to special shame where 
he had received special honor. A Christian church was 
built upon the site, and its approach was paved with the 
marbles of the heathen temple. Thus eveiy worshipper 
of Jesus Christ trod the relics of idolatry and superstition 
underfoot each time he went to assist at the holy Mass. 
He lived to see his diocese for the most part clear of idol- 
atry, and died in 420. 

Reflection. — All superstitious searching into secret 
things is forbidden by the First Commandment equally 
with the worship of any false god. Let us ask St. Por- 
phyry for a great zeal in keeping this commandment, lest 
we be led away, as so many are, by a curious and prying 
mind. 

February 27. — ST. LEANDER, Bishop. 

t. Leander was born of an illustrious family at Cartha- 
gena in Spain. He was the eldest of five brothers, 
several of whom are numbered among the Saints. He 
entered into a monastery very young, where he lived many 
years and attained to an eminent degree of virtue and 
sacred learning. These qualities occasioned his being pro- 
moted to the see of Seville; but his change of condition 
made little or no alteration in his method of life, though 
it brought on him a great increase of care and solicitude. 
Spain at that time was in possession of the Visigoths. 
These Goths, being infected with Arianism, established this 




February 28] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



89 



heresy wherever they came; so that when St. Leander was 
made bishop it had reigned in Spain a hundred years. 
This was his great affliction; however, by his prayers to 
God, and by his most zealous and unwearied endeavors, he 
became the happy instrument of the conversion of that 
nation to the Catholic faith. Having converted, among 
others, Hermenegild, the king's eldest son and heir ap- 
parent, Leander was banished by King Leovigild. This 
pious prince was put to death by his unnatural father, the 
year following, for refusing to receive Communion from 
the hands of an Arian bishop. But, touched with remorse 
not long after, the king recalled our Saint; and falling 
sick and finding himself past hopes of recover}^, he sent for 
St. Leander, and recommended to him his son Becared. 
This son, by listening to St. Leander, soon became a Cath- 
olic, and finally converted the whole nation of the Visi- 
goths. He was no less successful with respect to the Suevi, 
a people of Spain, whom his father Leovigild had per- 
verted. 

St. Leander was no less zealous in the reformation of 
manners than in restoring the purity of faith; and he 
planted the seeds of that zeal and fervor which afterwards 
produced so many martyrs and Saints. This holy doctor 
of Spain died about the year 596, on the 27th of February, 
as Mabillon proves from his epitaph. The Church of 
Seville has been a metropolitan see ever since the third 
century. The cathedral is the most magnificent, both as 
to structure and ornament, of any in all Spain. 

February 28.— STS. ROMANUS and LUPICINUS, 

Abbots. 

omanus at thirt3^-five years of age left his relatives 
and spent some time in the monastery of Ainay at 
Lyons, at the great church at the conflux of the Saone and 
Ehone which the faithful had built over the ashes of the 
famous martyrs of that city ; for their bodies being burned 
by the pagans, their ashes were thrown into the Ehone, but 
a great part of them was gathered by the Christians and 
deposited in this place. Bomanus a short time after re- 




90 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [February 29 



tired into the forests of Mount Jura, between France and 
Switzerland, and fixed his abode at a place called Condate, 
at the conflux of the rivers Bienne and Aliere, where he 
found a spot of ground fit for culture, and some trees 
which furnished him with a kind of wild fruit. Here he 
spent his time in praying, reading, and laboring for his 
subsistence. Lupicinus, his brother, came to him some 
time after in company with others, who were followed by 
several more, drawn by the fame of the virtue and miracles 
of these two Saints. Their numbers increasing, they built 
several monasteries, and a nunnery called La Beaume, 
which no men were allowed ever to enter, and where St. 
Eomanus chose his burial-place. The brothers governed 
the monks jointly and in great harmony, though Lupicinus 
was the more inclined to severity of the two. Lupicinus 
used no other bed than a chair or a hard board; never 
touched wine, and would scarcely ever suffer a drop either 
of oil or milk to be poured on his pottage. In summer his 
subsistence for many years was only hard bread moistened 
in cold water, so that he could eat it with a spoon. His 
tunic was made of various skins of beasts sewn together, 
with a cowl ; he used wooden shoes, and wore no stockings 
unless when he was obliged to go out of the monastery. 
St. Eomanus died about the year 460, and St. Lupicinus 
survived him almost twenty years. 



February 29. — ST. OSWALD, Bishop. 

Oswald was of a noble Saxon family, and was endowed 
with a very rare and beautiful form of body and 
with a singular piety of soul. He was brought up by his 
uncle, St. Odo, Archbishop of Canterbury, and was chosen, 
while still young, dean of the secular canons of Winchester, 
then very relaxed. His attempt to reform them was a 
failure ; and he saw, with that infallible instinct which so 
often guides the Saints in critical times, that the true 
remedy for the corruptions of the clergy was the restora- 
tion of the monastic life. He therefore went to Prance 
and took the habit of St. Benedict, but returned, only to 
receive the news of Odo's death. He found, however, a 



Makch l] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



91 



new patron in St. Dunstan, now metropolitan, through 
whose influence he was nominated to the see of Worcester. 
To these two Saints, together with Ethelwold of Win- 
chester, the monastic revival of the tenth century is 
mainly due. Oswalds first care was to deprive of their 
benefices the disorderly clerics, whom he replaced as far as 
possible by regulars, and himself founded seven religious 
houses. Considering that in the hearts of the secular 
canons there were yet some sparks of virtue, he would not 
at once expel them, but rather entrapped them by a holy 
artifice. Adjoining the cathedral he built a church in 
honor of the Mother of God, causing it to be served by a 
body of strict religious. He himself assisted at the divine 
Office in this church, and his example was followed by the 
people. The canons, finding themselves isolated and their 
cathedral deserted, chose rather to embrace the religious 
life than to continue not only to injure their own souls, 
but to be a mockery to their people by reason of the con- 
trast offered by their worldliness to the regularity of their 
religious brethren. As Archbishop of York a like success 
attended St. Oswald's efforts; and God manifested His 
approval of his zeal by discovering to him the relics of his 
great predecessor, St. Wilfrid, which he reverently trans- 
lated to Worcester. He died February 29, 992. 

Reflection. — A soul without discipline is like a ship 
without a helm ; she must inevitably strike unawares upon 
the rocks, founder on the shoals, or float unknowingly into 
the harbor of the enemy. 

March i. — ST. DAVID, Bishop. 

t. David, son of Sant, Prince of Cardigan and of 
Non, was born in that country in the fifth century, 
and from his earliest years gave himself wholly to the 
service of God. He began his religious life under St. 
Paulinus, a disciple of St. Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, 
who had been sent to Britain by Pope St. Celestine to stop 
the ravages of the heresy of Pelagius, at that time abbot, 
as it is said, of Bangor. On the reappearance of that 
heresy, in the beginning of the sixth century, the bishops 




92 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [March 1 



assembled at Brevi, and, unable to address the people 
that came to hear the word of truth, sent for St. David 
from his cell to preach to them. The Saint came, and 
it is related that, as he preached, the ground beneath his 
feet rose and became a hill, so that he was heard by an 
innumerable crowd. The heresy fell under the sword of 
the Spirit, and the Saint was elected Bishop of Caerleon 
on the resignation of St. Dubricius; but he removed the 
see to Menevia, a lone and desert spot, where he might, 
with his monks, serve God away from the noise of the 
world. He founded twelve monasteries, and governed his 
Church according to the canons sanctioned in Borne. At 
last, when about eighty years of age, he laid himself down, 
knowing that his hour was come. As his agony closed, 
Our Lord stood before him in a vision, and the Saint 
cried out : " Take me up with Thee," and so gave up his 
soul on Tuesday, March 1, 561. 



ST. ALBINUS, Bishop. 

T. Albinus was of an ancient and noble family in Brit- 
tany, and from his childhood was fervent in every 
exercise of piety. He ardently sighed after the happiness 
which a devout soul finds in being perfectly disengaged 
from all earthly things. Having embraced the monastic 
state at Tintillant, near Angers, he shone a perfect model 
of virtue, living as if in all things he had been without 
any will of his own ; and his soul seemed so perfectly gov- 
erned by the spirit of Christ as to live only for Him. At 
the age of thirty-five years he was chosen abbot, in 504, 
and twenty-five years afterwards Bishop of Angers. He 
everywhere restored discipline, being inflamed with a holy 
zeal for the honor of God. His dignity seemed to make 
no alteration either in his mortifications or in the constant 
recollection of his soul. Honored by all the world, even 
by kings, he was never affected with vanity. Powerful in 
works and miracles, he looked upon himself as the most 
unworthy and most unprofitable among the servants of 
God, and had no other ambition than to appear such in 
the eyes of others as he was in those of his own humility. 




March 2] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



93 



In the third Council of Orleans, in 538, he procured the 
thirtieth canon of the Council of Epaone to be revived, 
by which those are declared excommunicated who presume 
to contract incestuous marriages in the first or second 
degree of consanguinity or affinity. He died on the 1st 
of March, in 549. 

Reflection. — With whatever virtues a man may be en- 
dowed, he will discover, if he considers himself attentively, 
a sufficient depth of misery to afford cause for deep 
humility ; but Jesus Christ says, " He that humble th him- 
self shall be exalted." 



March 2. — ST. SIMPLICIUS, Pope. 

/SSt. Simplicity was the ornament of the Eoman clergy 
under Sts. Leo and Hilarius, and succeeded the latter 
in the pontificate in 468. He was raised by God to com- 
fort and support his Church amidst the greatest storms. 
All the provinces of the Western Empire, out of Italy, 
were fallen into the hands of barbarians. The emperors 
for many years were rather shadows of power than sov- 
ereigns, and, in the eighth year of the pontificate of 
Simplicius, Borne itself fell a prey to foreigners. Italy, 
by oppressions and the ravages of barbarians, was left 
almost a desert without inhabitants; and the imperial 
armies consisted chiefly of barbarians, hired under the 
name of auxiliaries. These soon saw that their masters 
were in their power. The Heruli demanded one third of 
the lands of Italy, and upon refusal chose for their 
leader Odoacer, one of the lowest extraction, but a resolute 
and intrepid man, who was proclaimed king of Eome in 
476. He put to death Orestes, who was regent of the 
empire for his son Augustulus, whom the senate had ad- 
vanced to the imperial throne. Odoacer spared the life 
of Augustulus, appointed him a salary of six thousand 
pounds of gold, and permitted him to live at full liberty 
near Naples. Pope Simplicius was wholly taken up in 
comforting and relieving the afflicted, and in sowing the 
seeds of the Catholic faith among the barbarians. The 
East gave his zeal no less employment and concern. Peter 



94 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[March 3 



Cnapheus, a violent Eutychian, was made by the heretics 
Patriarch of Antioch ; and Peter Mongus, one of the most 
profligate men, that of Alexandria. Acaeius, the Patri- 
arch of Constantinople, received the sentence of St. Sim- 
plicius against Cnapheus, but supported Mongus against 
him and the Catholic Church, and was a notorious change- 
ling, double-dealer, and artful hypocrite, who often made 
religion serve his own private ends. St. Simplicius at 
length discovered his artifices, and redoubled his zeal to 
maintain the holy faith, which he saw betrayed on every 
side, whilst the patriarchal sees of Alexandria and An- 
tioch were occupied by furious wolves, and there was not 
one Catholic king in the whole world. The emperor 
measured everything by his passions and human views. 
St. Simplicius, having sat fifteen years, eleven months, and 
six days, went to receive the reward of his labors in 483. 
He was buried in St. Peter's on the 2d of March. 

Reflection. — " He that trusteth in God shall fare never 
the worse," saith the Wise Man in the Book of Ecclesi- 
asticus. 

March 3.— ST. CUNEGUNDES, Empress. 

t. Cunegundes was the daughter of Siegfried, the first 
Count of Luxemburg, and Hadeswige, his pious wife. 
They instilled into her from her cradle the most tender 
sentiments of piety, and married her to St. Henry, Duke 
of Bavaria, who, upon the death of the Emperor Otho III., 
was chosen king of the Eomans, and crowned on the 6th 
of June, 1002. .She was crowned at Paderborn on St. 
Laurence's day. In the year 1014 she went with her hus- 
band to Eome, and received the imperial crown with him 
from the hands of Pope Benedict VIII. She had, by St. 
Henry's consent, before her marriage made a vow of vir- 
ginity. Calumniators afterwards made vile accusations 
against her, and the holy empress, to remove the scandal 
of such a slander, trusting in God to prove her innocence, 
walked over red-hot ploughshares without being hurt. 
The emperor condemned his too scrupulous fears and cre- 
dulity, and from that time they lived in the strictest union 




March 3] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



95 



of hearts, conspiring to promote in everything God's honor 
and the advancement of piety. 

Going once to make a retreat in Hesse, she fell danger- 
ously ill, and made a vow to found a monastery, if she re- 
covered, at Kaffungen, near Cassel, in the diocese of Pader- 
oorn, which she executed in a stately manner, and gave it 
\o nuns of the Order of St. Benedict. Before it was fin- 
shed St. Henry died, in 1024. She earnestly recom- 
mended his soul to the prayers of others, especially to her 
liear nuns, and expressed her longing desire of joining 
them. She had already exhausted her treasures in found- 
ing bishoprics and monasteries, and in relieving the poor, 
and she had therefore little left now to give. But still 
thirsting to embrace perfect evangelical poverty, and to 
renounce all to serve God without obstacle, she assembled 
a great number of prelates to the dedication of her church 
of Kaffungen on the anniversary day of her husband's 
death, 1025 ; and after the gospel was sung at Mass she 
offered on the altar a piece of the true cross, and then, 
putting off her imperial robes, clothed herself with a poor 
habit; her hair was cut off, and the bishop put on her a 
veil, and a ring as a pledge of her fidelity to her heavenly 
Spouse. After she was consecrated to God in religion, she 
seemed entirely to forget that she had been empress, and 
behaved as the last in the house, being persuaded that she 
was so before God. She prayed and read much, worked 
with her hands, and took a singular pleasure in visiting 
and comforting the sick. Thus she passed the last fifteen 
years of her life. Her mortifications at length reduced 
her to a very weak condition, and brought on her last 
sickness. Perceiving that they were preparing a cloth 
fringed with gold to cover her corpse after her death, she 
changed color and ordered it to be taken away; nor could 
she be at rest till she was promised she should be buried as 
a poor religious in her habit. She died on the 3d of 
March, 1040. Her body was carried to Bamberg and 
buried near that of her husband. She was solemnly can- 
onized by Innocent III. in 1200. 

Reflection. — Detachment of the mind, at least, is need- 
ful to those Who cannot venture on an effectual renuncia- 



96 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[March 4 



tion. " So likewise every one of you," saith Jesus Christ, 
" that doth not renounce all that he possesseth, cannot be 
My disciple." 



March 4. — ST. CASIMIR, King. 

Gasimir, the second son of Casimir III., King of Poland 
was born a. d. 1458. From the custody of a most 
virtuous mother, Elizabeth of Austria, he passed to the 
guardianship of a devoted master, the learned and pious 
John Dugloss. Thus animated from his earliest years by 
precept and example, his innocence and piety soon ripened 
into the practice of heroic virtue. At the age of twenty- 
five, sick of a lingering illness, he foretold the hour of his 
death, and chose to die a virgin rather than take the life 
and health which the doctors held out to him in the mar- 
ried state. In an atmosphere of luxury and magnificence 
the young prince had fasted, worn a hair-shirt, slept upon 
the bare earth, prayed by night, and watched for the open- 
ing of the church doors at dawn. He had become so ten- 
derly devoted to the Passion of Our Lord that at Mass he 
seemed quite rapt out of himself, and his charity to the 
poor and afflicted knew no bounds. His love for our 
blessed Lady he expressed in a long and beautiful hymn, 
familiar to us in our own tongue. The miracles wrought 
by his body after death fill a volume. The blind saw, the 
lame walked, the sick were healed, a dead girl was raised 
to life. And once the Saint in glory led his countrymen 
to battle, and delivered them by a glorious victory from 
the schismatic Eussian hosts. 

One hundred and twenty-two years after his death the 
Saint's tomb in the cathedral of Vienna was opened, that 
the holy body might be transferred to the rich marble 
chapel where it now lies. The place was damp, and the 
very vault crumbled away in the hands of the workmen; 
yet the Saint's body, wrapped in robes of silk, was found 
whole and incorrupt, and emitted a sweet fragrance, which 
filled the church and refreshed all who were present. 
Under his head was found his hymn to Our Lady, which 
he had had buried with him. The following night three 



March 5] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



97 



young men saw a brilliant light issuing from the open 
tomb and streaming through the windows of the chapel. 

Reflection. — Let the study of St. Casimir's life make 
us increase in devotion to the most pure Mother of God — 
a sure means of preserving holy purity. 

March 5.— STS. ADRIAN and EUBULUS, Martyrs. 

X* the seventh year of Diocletian's persecution, con- 
tinued by Galerius Maximianus, when Firmilian, the 
most bloody governor of Palestine, had stained Caesarea 
with the blood of many illustrious martyrs, Adrian and 
Eubulus came out of the country called Magantia to 
Caesarea, in order to visit the holy confessors there. At 
the gates of the city they were asked, as others were, 
whither they were going, and upon what errand. They 
ingenuously confessed the truth, and were brought before 
the president, who ordered them to be tortured and their 
sides to be torn with iron hooks, and then condemned them 
to be exposed to wild beasts. Two days after, when the 
pagans at Csesarea celebrated the festival of the public 
Genius, Adrian was exposed to a lion, and not being de- 
spatched by that beast, but only mangled, was at length 
killed by the sword. Eubulus was treated in the same 
manner two days later. The judge offered him his liberty 
if he would sacrifice to idols; but the Saint preferred a 
glorious death, and was the last that suffered in this perse- 
cution at Csesarea, which had now continued twelve years, 
under three successive governors, Flavian, Urban, and Fir- 
milian. Divine vengeance pursuing the cruel Firmilian, 
he was that same }^ear beheaded for his crimes, by the 
emperor's order, as his predecessor Urban had been two 
years before. 

Reflection. — It is in vain that we take the name of 
Christians, or pretend to follow Christ, unless we carry our 
crosses after Him. It is in vain that we hope to share in 
His glory, and in His kingdom, if we accept not the con- 
dition. We cannot arrive at heaven by any other road but 
that which Christ held, Who bequeathed His cross to all 
His elect as their portion and inheritance in this world, 



98 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [March 6 



March 6. — ST. COLETTE, Virgin. 

Hfter a holy childhood, Colette joined a society of 
devout women called the Beguines; but not finding 
their state sufficiently austere, she entered the Third Order 
of St. Francis, and lived in a hut near her parish church 
of Corbie in Picardy. Here she had passed four years of 
extraordinary penance when St. Francis, in a vision, bade 
her undertake the reform of her Order, then much re- 
laxed. Armed with due authority, she established her 
reform throughout a large part of Europe, and, in spite of 
the most violent opposition, founded seventeen convents of 
the strict observance. By the same wonderful prudence 
she assisted in healing the great schism which then afflicted 
the Church. The Fathers in council at Constance were in 
doubt how to deal with the three claimants to the tiara — 
John XXIII., Benedict XIII., and Gregory XII. At this 
crisis Colette, together with St. Vincent Ferrer, wrote to 
the Fathers to depose Benedict XIII., who alone refused 
his consent to a new election. This was done, and Martin 
V. was elected, to the great good of the Church. Colette 
equally assisted the Council of Basle by her advice and 
prayers; and when, later, God revealed to her the spirit 
of revolt that was rising, she warned the bishops and 
legates to retire from the council. St. Colette never 
ceased to pray for the Church, while the devils, in turn, 
never ceased to assault her. They swarmed round her as 
hideous insects, buzzing and stinging her tender skin. 
They brought into her cell the decaying corpses of public 
criminals, and assuming themselves monstrous forms struck 
her savage blows ; or they would appear in the most seduc- 
tive guise, and tempt her by many deceits to sin. St. Co- 
lette once complained to Our Lord that the demons pre- 
vented her from praying. " Cease, then," said the devil to 
her, " your prayers to the great Master of the Church, and 
we will cease to torment you ; for you torment us more by 
your prayers than we do you." Yet the virgin of Christ 
triumphed alike over their threats and their allurements, 
and said she would count that day the unhappiest of her 
life in which she suffered nothing for her God. She died 



March 7] 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



99 



March 6, 1447, in a transport of intercession for sinners 
and the Church. 

Reflection. — One of the greatest tests of being a good 
Catholic is zeal for the Church and devotion to Christ' s 
Vicar. 

March 7.— ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. 

/SSfT. Thomas was born of noble parents at Aquino in 
HZJ Italy, in 1226. At the age of nineteen he received 
the Dominican habit at ISTaples, where he was studying. 
Seized by his brothers on his way to Paris, he suffered a 
two years' captivity in their castle of Bocca-Seeea; but 
neither the caresses of his mother and sisters, nor the 
threats and stratagems of his brothers, could shake him in 
his vocation. While St. Thomas was in confinement at 
Eocca-Secca, his brothers endeavored to entrap him into 
sin, but the attempt only ended in the triumph of his 
purity. Snatching from the hearth a burning brand, the 
Saint drove from his chamber the wretched creature whom 
they had there concealed. Then marking a cross upon 
the wall, he knelt down to pray, and forthwith, being rapt 
in ecstasy, an angel girded him with a cord, in token of 
the gift of perpetual chastity which God had given him. 
The pain caused by the girdle was so sharp that St. Thomas 
uttered a piercing cry, which brought his guards into the 
room. But he never told this grace to any one save only to 
Father Eaynald, his confessor^ a little while before his 
death. , Hence originated the Confraternity of the " An- 
gelic Warfare," for the preservation of the virtue of chas- 
tity. Having at length escaped, St. Thomas went to 
Cologne to study under Blessed Albert the Great, and 
after that to Paris, where for many years he taught 
philosophy and theology. The Church has ever venerated 
his numerous writings as a treasure-house of sacred doc- 
trine; while in naming him the Angelic Doctor she has 
indicated that his science is more divine than human. The 
rarest gifts of intellect were combined in him with the 
tenderest piety. Prayer, he said, had taught him more 
than study. His singular devotion to the Blessed Sacra- 



100 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [March 8 



ment shines forth in the Office and hymns for Corpus 
Christi, which he composed. To the words miraculously 
uttered by a crucifix at Naples, "Well hast thou written 
concerning Me, Thomas. What shall I give thee as a 
reward ? " he replied, " Naught save Thyself, 0 Lord." 
He died at Fossa-Nuova, 1274, on his way to the Gen- 
eral Council of Lyons, to which Pope Gregory X. had sum- 
moned him. r 

Reflection. — The knowledge of God is for all, but hid- 
den treasures are reserved for those who have ever followed 
the Lamb. 

March 8.— ST. JOHN OF GOD. 

Qothing in John's early life foreshadowed his future 
sanctity. He ran away as a boy from his home in 
Portugal, tended sheep and cattle in Spain, and served as 
a soldier against the French, and afterwards against the 
Turks. When about forty years of age, feeling remorse 
for his wild life, he resolved to devote himself to the ran- 
som of the Christian slaves in Africa, and went thither 
with the family of an exiled noble, which he maintained 
by his labor. On his return to Spain he sought to do 
good by selling holy pictures and books at low prices. At 
length the hour of grace struck. At Granada a sermon by 
the celebrated John of Avila shook his soul to its depths, 
and his expressions of self-abhorrence were so extraordi- 
nary that he was taken to the asylum as one mad. There he 
employed himself in ministering to the sick. On leaving 
he began to collect homeless poor, and to support them by 
his work and by begging. One night St. John found in 
the streets a poor man who seemed near death, and, as was 
his wont, he carried him to the hospital, laid him on a bed, 
and went to fetch water to wash his feet. When he had 
washed them, he knelt to kiss them, and started with awe : 
the feet were pierced, and the print of the nails bright with 
an unearthly radiance. He raised his eyes to look, and 
beard the words, "John, to Me thou doest all that thou 
doest to the poor in My name : I reach forth My hand for 
the alms thou givest; Me dost thou clothe, Mine are the 



Marce 9] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 101 



feet thou dost wash." And then the gracious vision dis- 
appeared, leaving St. John filled at once with confusion 
and consolation. The bishop became the Saint's patron, 
and gave him the name of John of God. When his hos- 
pital was on fire, John was seen rushing about uninjured 
amidst the flames until he had rescued all his poor. After 
ten years spent in the service of the suffering, the Saint's 
life was fitly closed. He plunged into the river Xenil to 
save a drowning boy, and died, 1550, of an illness brought 
on by the attempt, at the age of fifty-five. 

Reflection. — God often rewards men for works that 
are pleasing in His sight by giving them grace and oppor- 
tunity to do other works higher still. St. John of God 
used to attribute his conversion, and the graces which 
enabled him to do such great works, to his self-denying 
charity in Africa. 

March 9.— ST. FRANCES OF ROME. 

Era^ces was born at Eome in 1384. Her parents were 
of high rank. They overruled her desire to become 
a nun, and at twelve years of age married her to Eorenzo 
Ponziano, a Eoman noble. During the forty years of 
their married life they never had a disagreement. While 
spending her days in retirement and prayer, she attended 
promptly to every household duty, saying, " A married 
woman must leave God at the altar to find Him in her 
domestic cares ; " and she once found the verse of a psalm 
in which she had been four times thus interrupted com- 
pleted for her in letters of gold. Her ordinary food was 
dry bread. Secretly she would exchange with beggars 
good food for their hard crusts ; her drink was water, and 
her cup a human skull. During the invasion of Eome, in 
1413, Ponziano was banished, his estates confiscated, his 
house destroyed, and his eldest son taken as a hostage. 
Frances saw in these losses only the finger of God, and 
blessed His holy name. When peace was restored Pon- 
ziano recovered his estate, and Frances founded the 
Oblates. After her husband's death, barefoot and with a 
cord about her neck she begged admission to the com- 



102 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[March 10 



munity, and was soon elected Superioress. She lived al- 
ways in the presence of God, and amongst many visions 
was given constant sight of her angel guardian, who shed 
such brightness around him that the Saint could read her 
midnight Office by this light alone. He shielded her in 
the hour of temptation, and directed her in every good 
act. But when she was betrayed into some defect, he 
faded from her sight; and when some light words were 
spoken before her, he covered his face in shame. She 
died on the day she had foretold, March 9, 1440. 

Reflection. — God has appointed an angel to guard each 
one of us, to whose warnings we are bound to attend. 
Let us listen to his voice here, and we shall see him here- 
after when he leads us before the throne of God. 



March io.— THE FORTY MARTYRS OF 
SEBASTE. 

^Ihe Forty Martyrs were soldiers quartered at Sebaste 
\mJ in xlrmenia, about the year 320. When their legion 
was ordered to offer sacrifice they separated themselves 
from the rest and formed a company of martyrs. After 
they had been torn by scourges and iron hooks they were 
chained together and led to a lingering death. It was a 
cruel winter, and they were condemned to lie naked on the 
icy surface of a pond in the open air till they were frozen 
to death. But they ran undismayed to the place of their 
combat, joyfully stripped off their garments, and with one 
voice besought God to keep their ranks unbroken. 
" Forty/ 3 they cried, " we have come to combat : grant that 
forty may be crowned/ 3 There were warm baths hard by, 
ready for any one amongst them who would deny Christ. 
The soldiers who watched saw angels descending with 
thirty-nine crowns, and, while he wondered at the defi- 
ciency in the number, one of the confessors lost heart, re- 
nounced his faith, and, crawling to the fire, died body and 
soul at the spot where he expected relief. But the soldier 
was inspired to confess Christ and take his place, and 
again the number of forty was complete. They remained 
steadfast while their limbs grew stiff and frozen, and died 



Mabch 11] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



103 



one by one. Among the Forty there was a young soldier 
who held out longest against the cold, and when the offi- 
cers came to cart away the dead bodies they found him 
still breathing. They were moved with pity, and wanted to 
leave him alive in the hope that he would still change his 
mind. But his mother stood by, and this valiant woman 
could not bear to see her son separated from the band of 
martyrs. She exhorted him to persevere, and lifted his 
frozen body into the cart. He was just able to make a sign 
of recognition, and was borne away, to be thrown into the 
flames with the dead bodies of his brethren, 

Reflection. — All who live the life of grace are one in 
Christ. But besides this there are many special ties — of 
religion, of community life, or at least of aspirations in 
prayer, and pious works. Thank God if He has bound you 
to others by these spiritual ties ; remember the character you 
have to support, and pray that the bond which unites you 
here may last for eternity. 



March ii. — ST. EULOGIUS, Martyr. 

/SS(t. Eulogius was of a senatorian family of Cordova, at 
M^J that time the capital of the Moors in Spain. Our 
Saint was educated among the clergy of the Church of St. 
Zoilus, a mart} r r who suffered with nineteen others under 
Diocletian. Here he distinguished himself, by his virtue 
and learning, and, being made priest, was placed at the 
head of the chief ecclesiastical school at Cordova. He 
joined assiduous watching, fasting, and prayer to his 
studies, and his humility, mildness, and charity gained 
him the affection and respect of every one. During the 
persecution raised against the Christians in the year 850, 
St. Eulogius was thrown into prison and there wrote his 
Exhortation to Martyrdom, addressed to the virgins Elora 
and Mary, who were beheaded the 24th of November, 851. 
Six days after their death Eulogius was set at liberty. In 
the year 852 several others suffered the like martyrdom. 
St. Eulogius encouraged all these martyrs to their tri- 
umphs, and was the support of that distressed flock. The 
Archbishop of Toledo dying in 858, St. Eulogius was 



104 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [March 11 



elected to succeed him; but there was some obstacle that 
hindered him from being consecrated, though he did not 
outlive his election two months. A virgin, by name Leo- 
critia, of a noble family among the Moors, had been in- 
structed from her infancy in the Christian religion by one 
of her relatives, and privately baptized. Her father and 
mother used her very ill, and scourged her day and night 
to compel her to renounce the Faith. Having made her 
condition known to St. Eulogius and his sister Anulona, 
intimating that she desired to go where she might freely 
exercise her religion, they secretly procured her the means 
of getting away, and concealed her for some time among 
faithful friends. But the matter was at length discov- 
ered, and they were all brought before the -cadi, who threat- 
ened to have Eulogius scourged to death. The .Saint 
told him that his torments would be of no avail, for he 
would never change his religion. Whereupon the cadi 
gave orders that he should be carried to the palace and be 
presented before the king's council. Eulogius began 
boldly to propose the truths of the Gospel to them. But, 
to prevent their hearing him, the council condemned him 
immediately to lose his head. As they were leading him to 
execution, one of the guards gave him a blow on the face 
for having spoken against Mahomet; he turned the other 
cheek, and patiently received a second. He received the 
stroke of death with great cheerfulness, on the 11th of 
March, 859. St. Leocritia was beheaded four days after 
him, and her body thrown into the river Guadalquivir, but 
taken out by the Christians. 

Reflection. — Beg of God, through the intercession of 
these holy martyrs, the gift of perseverance. Their ex- 
ample will supply you with an admirable rule for obtain- 
ing this crowning gift. Eemember that you have re- 
nounced the world and the devil once for all at your 
Baptism. Do not hesitate ; do not look back ; do not listen 
to suggestions against faith or virtue; but advance, day 
by day, along the road which you have chosen, to God, 
Who is your portion forever. 



March 12] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



105 



March 12. — ST. GREGORY THE GREAT. 

eREGORY was a Eoman of noble birth, and while still 
young was governor of Borne. On his father's death 
he gave his great wealth to the poor, turned his house on 
the Coelian Hill into a monastery, which now bears his 
name, and for some years lived as a perfect monk. The 
Pope drew him from his seclusion to make him one of the 
seven deacons of Borne; and he did great service to the 
Church for many years as what we now call Nuncio to the 
imperial court at Constantinople. While still a monk the 
Saint was struck with some boys who were exposed for 
sale in Borne, and heard with sorrow that they were pagans. 
u And of what race are they ? 99 he asked. " They are 
Angles." u Worthy indeed to be Angels of God/ 5 said he. 
" And of what province ? 99 " Of Deira/' was the reply. 
u Truly must we rescue them from the wrath of God. 
And what is the name of their king ? 99 " He is called 
Ella." " It is well/' said Gregory ; " Alleluia must be 
sung in their land to God/' He at once got leave from the 
Pope, and had set out to convert the English when the 
murmurs of the people led the Pope to recall him. Still 
the Angles were not forgotten, and one of the Saint's first 
cares as Pope was to send from his own monastery St. 
Augustine and other monks to England. On the death of 
Pope Pelagius II., Gregory was compelled to take the 
government of the Church, and for fourteen years his 
pontificate was a perfect model of ecclesiastical rule. He 
healed schisms ; revived discipline ; saved Italy by convert- 
ing the wild Arian Lombards who were laying it waste; 
aided in the conversion of the Spanish and French Goths, 
who were also Arians; and kindled anew in Britain the 
light of the Faith, which the English had put out in blood. 
He set in order the Church's prayers and chant, guided 
and consoled her pastors with innumerable letters, and 
preached incessantly, most effectually by his own example. 
He died a. d. 604, worn out by austerities and toils; and 
the Church reckons him one of her four great doctors, and 
reveres him as St. Gregory the Great. 



106 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [March 13 



Reflection, — The champions of faith proYe the truth of 

their teaching no less by the holiness of their lives than by 
the force of their arguments. Never forget that to con 
vert others you must first see to your own soul. 



March 13.— ST. EUPHRASIA, Virgin. 

euPHEAsiA was the daughter of pious and noble parents. 
After the death of her father his widow withdrew 
privately with her little daughter into Egypt, where she 
was possessed of a very large estate. In that country she 
fixed her abode near a holy monastery of one hundred and 
thirty nuns. The young Euphrasia, at seven years of age, 
begged that she might be permitted to serve ©od in this 
monastery. The pious mother on hearing this wept for 
joy, and not long after presented her child to the abbess, 
who, taking up an image of Christ, gave it to Euphrasia. 
The tender virgin kissed it, saying, " By vow I consecrate 
myself to Christ." Then the mother led her before an 
image of Our Eedeemer, and lifting up her hands to 
heaven said, " Lord Jesus Christ, receive this child under 
your special protection. You alone doth she love and 
seek: to you doth she recommend herself." Then leaving 
her in the hands of the abbess, she went out of the monas- 
tery weeping. Some time after this the good mother fell 
sick, and soon slept in peace. Upon the news of her death 
the Emperor Theodosius sent for the noble virgin to come 
to court, having promised her in marriage to a favorite 
young senator. But the virgin wrote him refusing the 
alliance, repeating her vow of virginity, and requesting 
that her estates should be sold and divided among the poor, 
and all her slaves set at liberty. The Emperor punctu- 
ally executed all she desired, a little before his death in 
395. St. Euphrasia was a perfect pattern of humility, 
meekness, and charity. If she found herself assaulted by 
any temptation, she immediately sought the advice of the 
abbess, who often enjoined her on such occasions some 
humbling and painful penitential labor, as sometimes to 
carry great stones from one place to another; which em- 
ployment she once, under an obstinate assault, continued 



March 14] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 107 



thirty days together with wonderful simplicity, till the 
devil, being vanquished by her humble obedience and chas- 
tisement of her body, left her in peace. She was favored 
with miracles both before and after her death, which hap- 
pened in the year 410, the thirtieth of her age. 



March 14.— ST. MAUD, Queen 

his princess was daughter of Theodoric, a powerful 
Saxon count. Her parents placed her very young 
in the monastery of Erford, of which her grandmother 
Maud was then abbess. Our Saint remained m that house, 
an accomplished model of all virtues, till her parents mar- 
ried her to Henry, son of Oth 0, Duke of Saxony, in 913, 
who was afterwards chosen king of Germany. He was 
a pious and victorious prince, and very tender of his sub- 
jects. Whilst by his arms he checked the insolence of the 
Hungarians and Danes, and enlarged his dominions by 
adding to them Bavaria, Maud gained domestic victories 
over her spiritual enemies more worthy of a Christian and 
far greater in the eyes of Heaven. She nourished the 
precious seeds of devotion and humility in her heart by 
assiduous prayer and meditation. It was her delight to 
visit, comfort, and exhort the sick and the afflicted; to 
serve and instruct the poor, and to afford her char- 
itable succor to prisoners. Her husband, edified by her 
example, concurred with her in every pious undertaking 
which she projected. After twenty-three years' marriage 
God was pleased to call the king to himself, in 936. 
Maud, during his sickness, went to the church to pour 
forth her soul in prayer for him at the foot of the altar. 
As soon as she understood, by the tears and cries of the 
people, that he had expired, she called for a priest that 
was fasting to offer the holy sacrifice for his soul. She 
had three sons: Otho, afterwards emperor; Henry, Duke 
of Bavaria; and St. Brunn, Archbishop of Cologne. 
Otho was crowned king of Germany in 937, and emperor 
at Borne in 962, after his victories over the Bohemians 
and Lombards. The two oldest sons conspired to strip 
Maud of her dowry, on the unjust pretence that she had 




108 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [March 15 



squandered the revenues of the state on the poor. The 
unnatural princes at length repented of their injustice, 
and restored to her all that had been taken from her. 
She then became more liberal in her alms than ever, and 
founded many churches, with five monasteries. In her 
last sickness she made her confession to her grandson 
William, the Archbishop of Mentz, who yet died twelve 
days before her, on his road home. She again made a 
public confession before the priests and monks of the 
place, received a second time the last sacraments, and, 
lying on a sack-cloth, with ashes on her head, died on the 
14th of March in 968. 

Reflection. — The beginning of true virtue is most ar- 
dently to desire it, and to ask it of God with the utmost 
assiduity and earnestness. Fervent prayer, holy medita- 
tion, and reading pious books, are the principal means 
by which this virtue is to be constantly improved, and the 
interior life of the soul to be strengthened. 



March 15.— ST. ZACHARY, Pope. 

@t. Zachary succeeded Gregory III., in 741, and was a 
man of singular meekness and goodness. He loved 
the clergy and people of Eome to that degree that he 
hazarded his life for them on occasion of the troubles 
which Italy fell into by the rebellion of the Dukes of 
Spoleto and Benevento against King Luitprand. Out of 
respect to his sanctity and dignity, that king restored to 
the Church of Eome all the places which belonged to it, 
and sent back the captives without ransom. The Lom- 
bards were moved to tears at the devotion with which they 
heard him perform the divine service. The zeal and pru- 
dence of this holy Pope appeared in many wholesome 
regulations which he had made to reform or settle the 
discipline and peace of several churches. St. Boniface, the 
Apostle of Germany, wrote to him against a certain priest 
named Virgilius, that he labored to sow the seeds of dis- 
cord between him and Odilo, Duke of Bavaria, and taught, 
besides, many errors. Zachary ordered that Virgilius 
should be sent to Rome, that his doctrine might be ex- 



March 16] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



109 



amined. It seems that he cleared himself; for we find 
this same Virgilius soon after made Bishop of Salzburg. 
Certain Venetian merchants having bought at Rome many 
slaves to sell to the Moors in Africa, St. Zachary forbade 
such an iniquitous traffic, and, paying the merchants their 
price, gave the slaves their liberty. He adorned Eome with 
sacred buildings, and with great foundations in favor of 
the poor and pilgrims, and gave every year a considerable 
sum to furnish oil for the lamps in St. Peter's Church. 
He died in 752, in the month of March. 



March i6.— STS. ABRAHAM and MARY. 

braham was a rich nobleman of Edessa. At his par- 
ents' desire he married, but escaped to a cell near 
the city as soon as the feast was over. He walled up 
the cell-door, leaving only a small window through which 
he received his food. There for fifty years he sang God's 
praises and implored mercy for himself and for all men. 
The wealth which fell to him on his parents' death he gave 
to the poor. As many sought him for advice and consola- 
tion, the Bishop of Edessa, in spite of his humility, or- 
dained him priest. St. Abraham was sent, soon after his 
ordination, to an idolatrous city which had hitherto been 
deaf to every messenger. He was insulted, beaten, and 
three times banished, but he returned each time with fresh 
zeal. For three years he pleaded with God for those souls, 
and in the end prevailed. Every citizen came to him for 
Baptism. After providing for their spiritual needs he 
went back to his cell more than ever convinced of the 
power of prayer. His brother died, leaving an only 
daughter, Mary, to the Saint's care. He placed her in a 
cell near his own, and devoted himself to training her in 
perfection. After twenty j^ears of innocence she fell, and 
fled in despair to a distant city, where she drowned the 
voice of conscience in sin. The Saint and his friend St 
Ephrem prayed earnestly for her during two years. Then 
he went disguised to seek the lost sheep, and had the joy 
of bringing her back to the desert a true penitent. She 
received the gift of miracles, and her countenance after 




110 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[March 17 



death shone as the sun. St. Abraham died five years 
before her, about 360. All Edessa came for his last bless- 
ing and to secure his relics. 

Reflection. — Oh, that we realized the omnipotence of 
prayer ! Every soul was created to glorify God eternally ; 
and it is in the power of every one to add by the salvation 
of his neighbor to the glory of God. Let us make good use 
of this talent of prayer, lest our brother's blood be re- 
quired of us at the last. 

March 17. — ST. PATRICK, Bishop, Apostle of 
Ireland. 

Xf the virtue of children reflects an honor on their 
parents, much more justly is the name of St. Pat- 
rick rendered illustrious by the innumerable lights of 
sanctity with which the Church of Ireland shone during 
many ages, and by the colonies of Saints with which it 
peopled many foreign countries; for, under God, its in- 
habitants derived from their glorious apostle the streams 
of that eminent sanctity by which they were long conspicu- 
ous to the whole world. St. Patrick was born towards the 
close of the fourth century, in a village called Bonaven 
Tabernise, which seems to be the town of Kilpatrick, on 
the mouth of the river Clyde, in Scotland, between Dum- 
barton and. Glasgow. He calls himself both a Briton and 
a Eoman, or of a mixed extraction, and says his father 
was of a good family named Calphurnius, and a denizen 
of a neighboring city of the Komans, who not long after 
abandoned Britain, in 409. Some writers call his mother 
Conchessa, and say she was niece to St. Martin of Tours. 

In his sixteenth year he was carried into captivity by 
certain barbarians, who took him into Ireland, where he 
was obliged to keep cattle on the mountains and in the 
forests, in hunger and nakedness, amidst snow, rain, and 
ice. Whilst he lived in this suffering condition, God had 
pity on his soul, and quickened him to a sense of his duty 
by the impulse of a strong interior grace. The young man 
had recourse to Him with his whole heart in fervent 
prayer and fasting; and from that time faith and the love 



■March 17] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



111 



of God acquired continually new strength in his tender 
soul. After six months spent in slavery under the same 
master, St. Patrick was admonished by God in a dream 
to return to his own country, and informed that a ship 
was then ready to sail thither. He went at once to the 
sea-coast, though at a great distance, and found the ves- 
sel ; but could not obtain his passage, probably for want of 
money. The Saint returned towards his hut, praying as 
he went; but the sailors, though pagans, called him back 
and took him on board. After three days' sail they made 
land, but wandered twenty-seven days through deserts, and 
were a long while distressed for want of provisions, find- 
ing nothing to eat. Patrick had often spoken to the com- 
pany on the infinite power of God; they therefore asked 
him why he did not pray for relief. Animated by a strong 
faith, he assured them that if they would address them- 
selves with their whole hearts to the true God He would 
hear and succor them. They did so, and on the same day 
met with a herd of swine. From that time provisions 
never failed them, till on the twenty-seventh day they 
came into a country that was cultivated and inhabited. 

Some years afterwards he was again led captive, but re- 
covered his liberty after two months. When he was at 
home with his parents, God manifested to him, by divers 
visions, that He destined him to the great work of the 
conversion of Ireland. The writers of his life say that 
after his second captivity he travelled into Gaul and Italy, 
and saw St Martin, St. Germanus of Auxerre, and Pope 
Celestine, and that he received his mission and the 
apostolical benediction from this Pope, who died in 432. 
It is certain that he spent many years in preparing him- 
self for his sacred calling. Great opposition was made 
against his episcopal consecration and mission, both by his 
own relatives and by the clergy. These made him great 
offers in order to detain him among them, and endeavored 
to affright him by exaggerating the dangers to which he 
exposed himself amidst the enemies of the Eomans and 
Britons, who did not know God. All these temptations 
threw the Saint into great perplexities; but the Lord, 
Whose will he consulted by earnest prayer, supported him, 
and he persevered in his resolution. He forsook his fam- 



112 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [March 17 



ily, sold his birthright and dignity, to serve strangers, and 
consecrated his soul to God, to carry His name to the ends 
of the earth. In this disposition he passed into Ireland, to 
preach the Gospel, where the worship of idols still gener- 
ally reigned. He devoted himself entirely to the salvation 
of these barbarians. He travelled over the whole island, 
penetrating into the remotest corners, and such was the 
fruit of his preachings and sufferings that he baptized 
an infinite number of people. He ordained everywhere 
clergymen, induced women to live in holy widowhood and 
continence, consecrated virgins to Christ, and instituted 
monks. He took nothing from the many thousands whom 
he baptized, and often gave back the little presents which 
some laid on the altar, choosing rather to mortify the 
fervent than to scandalize the weak or the infidels. He 
gave freely of his own, however, both to pagans and 
Christians, distributed large alms to the poor in the prov- 
inces where he passed, made presents to the kings, judging 
that necessary for the progress of the Gospel, and main- 
tained and educated many children, whom he trained up 
to serve at the altar. The happy success of his labors cost 
him many persecutions. 

A certain prince named Corotick, a Christian in name 
only, disturbed the peace of his flock. This tyrant, having 
made a descent into Ireland, plundered the country where 
St. Patrick had been just conferring confirmation on a 
great number of neophytes, who were yet in their white 
garments after Baptism. Corotick massacred many, and 
carried away others, whom he sold to the infidel Picts or 
Scots. The next day the Saint sent the barbarian a letter 
entreating him to restore the Christian captives, and at 
least part of the booty he had taken, that the poor people 
might not perish for want, but was only answered by 
railleries. The Saint, therefore, wrote with his own hand 
a letter. In it he styles himself a sinner and an ignorant 
man; he declares, nevertheless, that he is established 
Bishop of Ireland, and pronounces Corotick and the other 
parricides and accomplices separated from him and from 
Jesus Christ, Whose place he holds, forbidding any to eat 
with them, or to receive their alms, till they should have 
satisfied God by the tears of sincere penance, and restored 



March 17] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



113 



the servants of Jesus Christ to their liberty. This letter 
expresses his most tender love for his flock, and his grief 
for those who had been slain, yet mingled with joy be- 
cause they reign with the prophets, apostles, and martyrs. 
Jocelin assures us that Corotick was overtaken by the di- 
vine vengeance. 

St. Patrick held several councils to settle the discipline 
of the Church which he had planted. St. Bernard and the 
tradition of the country testify that St. Patrick fixed his 
metropolitan see at Armagh. He established some other 
bishops, as appears by his Council and other monuments. 
He not only converted the whole country by his preaching 
and wonderful miracles, but also cultivated this vineyard 
with so fruitful a benediction and increase from heaven as 
to render Ireland a most flourishing garden in the Church 
of God, and a country of Saints. 

Many particulars are related of the labors of St. Pat- 
rick, which we pass over. In the first year of his mission 
he attempted to preach Christ in the general assembly of 
the kings and states of all Ireland, held yearly at Tara, the 
residence of the chief king, styled the monarch of the whole 
island, and the principal seat of the Druids, or priests, and 
their paganish rites. The son of Neill, the chief monarch, 
declared himself against the preacher; however, Patrick 
converted several, and, on his road to that place, the father 
of St. Benignus, his immediate successor in the see of 
Armagh. He afterwards converted and baptized the kings 
of Dublin and Munster, and the seven sons of the king of 
Connaught, with the greatest part of their subjects, and 
before his death almost the whole island. He founded a 
monastery at Armagh; another called Domnach-Padraig, 
or Patrick's Church; also a third, named Sabhal-Padraig ; 
and filled the country with churches and schools of piety 
and learning, the reputation of which, for the three suc- 
ceeding centuries, drew many foreigners into Ireland. He 
died and was buried at Down in Ulster. His body was 
found there in a church of his name in 1185, and trans- 
lated to another part of the same church. 

Ireland is the nursery whence St. Patrick sent forth his 
missionaries and teachers. Glastonbury and Lindisfarne, 
Ripon and Malmesbury, bear testimony to the labors of 



114 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[March 18 



Irish priests and bishops for the conversion of England, 
lona is to this day the most venerated spot in Scotland. 
Columban, Fiacre, Gall, and many others evangelized the 
"rough places" of France and Switzerland. America 
and Australia, in modern times, owe their Christianity to 
the faith and zeal of the sons and daughters of St. Pat- 
rick. 

Reflection. — By the instrumentality of St. Patrick the 
Faith is now as fresh in Ireland, even in this cold nine- 
teenth century, as when it was first planted. Ask him to 
obtain for yon the special grace of his children — to pre- 
fer the loss of every earthly good to the least compromise 
in matters of faith. 

March 18. — ST. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM. 

Gyril was born at or near the city of Jerusalem, about 
the year 315. He was ordained priest by St. Maxi- 
mus, who gave him the important charge of instructing 
and preparing the candidates for Baptism. This charge 
he held for several years, and we still have one series of 
his instructions, given in the year 347 or 348. They are 
of singular interest as being the earliest record of the 
systematic teaching of the Church on the creed and sacra- 
ments, and as having been given in the church built by 
Constantine on Mount Calvary. They are solid, simple, 
profound; saturated with Holy Scripture; exact, precise, 
and terse ; and, as a witness and exposition of the Catholic 
faith, invaluable. On the death of St. Maximus, Cyril 
was chosen Bishop of Jerusalem. At the beginning of 
his episcopate a cross was seen in the air reaching from 
Mount Calvary to Mount Olivet, and so bright that it 
shone at noonday. St. Cyril gave an account of it to the 
emperor; and the faithful regarded it as a presage of 
victory over the Arian heretics. While Cyril was bishop, 
the apostate Julian resolved to falsify the words of Our 
Lord by rebuilding the Temple at Jerusalem. He em- 
ployed the power and resources of a Eoman emperor; the 
Jews thronged enthusiastically to him and gave munifi- 
cently. .But Cyril was unmoved. " The word of ©od 



March 19] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



115 



abides," he said ; " one stone shall not be laid on another." 
When the attempt was made, a heathen writer tells us 
that horrible flames came forth from the earth, rendering 
the place inaccessible to the scorched and scared workmen. 
The attempt was made again and again, and then aban- 
doned in despair. Soon after, the emperor perished mis- 
erably in a war against the Persians, and the Church had 
rest. Like the other great bishops of his time, Cyril was 
persecuted, and driven once and again from his see; but 
on the death of the Arian Emperor Valens he returned to 
Jerusalem. He was present at the second General Coun- 
cil at Constantinople, and died in peace in 386, after a 
troubled episcopate of thirty-five years. 

Reflection. — " As a stout staff," says St. John Chrysos- 
tom, a supports the trembling limbs of a feeble old man, 
so does faith sustain our vacillating mind, lest it be tossed 
about by sinful hesitation and perplexity." 

March 19.— ST. JOSEPH, Spouse of the Blessed 
Virgin and Patron of the Universal Church. 

T. Joseph was by birth of the royal family of David, 
but was living in humble obscurity as a carpenter 
when God raised him to the highest sanctity, and fitted 
him to be the spouse of His Virgin Mother, and foster- 
father and guardian of the Incarnate Word. Joseph, says 
the Holy Scripture, was a just man; he was innocent and 
pure, as became the husband of Mary; he was gentle and 
tender, as one worthy to be named the father of Jesus ; he 
was prudent and a lover of silence, as became the master 
of the holy house ; above all, he was faithful and obedient 
to divine calls. His conversation was with angels rather 
than with men. When he learned that Mary bore within 
her womb the Lord of heaven, he feared to take her as 
his wife; but an angel bade him fear not, and all doubts 
vanished. When Herod, sought the life of the divine In- 
fant, an angel told Joseph in a dream to fly with the Child 
and His Mother into Egypt. Joseph at once arose and 
obeyed. This sudden and unexpected flight must have 
exposed Joseph to many inconveniences and sufferings in 




116 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [March 19 



so long a journey with a little babe and a tender virgin, 
the greater part of the way being through deserts and 
among strangers ; yet he alleges no excuses, nor inquires at 
what time they were to return. St. Chrysostom observes 
that God treats thus all His servants, sending them fre- 
quent trials to clear their hearts from the rust of self-love, 
but intermixing seasons of consolation. " Joseph," says 
he, " is anxious on seeing the Virgin with child ; an angel 
removes that fear. He rejoices at the Child's birth, but a 
great fear succeeds: the furious king seeks to destroy the 
Child, and the whole city is in an uproar to take away His 
life. This is followed by another joy, the adoration of the 
Magi ; a new sorrow then arises : he is ordered to fly into 
a foreign unknown country, without help or acquaintance." 
It is the opinion of the Fathers that upon their entering 
Egypt, at the presence of the child Jesus, all the oracles of 
that superstitious country were struck dumb, and the 
statues of their gods trembled and in many places fell to 
the ground. The Fathers also attribute to this holy visit 
the spiritual benediction poured on that country, which 
made it for many ages most fruitful in Saints. After the 
death of King Herod, of which St. Joseph was informed in 
another vision, God ordered him to return with the Child 
and His Mother into the land of Israel, which our Saint 
readily obeyed. But when he arrived in Judea, hearing 
that Archelaus had succeeded Herod in that part of the 
country, and apprehensive that he might be infected with 
his father's vices, he feared on that account to settle there, 
as he would otherwise probably have done for the education 
of the Child; and therefore, being directed by God in 
another vision, he retired into the dominions of Herod 
Antipas, in Galilee, to his former habitation in Nazareth. 
St. Joseph, being a strict observer of the Mosaic law, in 
conformity to its direction annually repaired to Jerusalem 
to celebrate the Passover. Our Saviour, now in the twelfth 
year of His age, accompanied His parents thither. Having 
performed the usual ceremonies of the feast, they were re- 
turning with many of their neighbors and acquaintances 
towards Galilee; and never doubting but that Jesus was 
with some of the company, they travelled on for a whole 



March 20] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



117 



day's journey before they discovered that He was not with 
them. But when night came on and they could hear no 
tidings of Him among their kindred and acquaintance, 
they, in the deepest affliction, returned with the utmost 
speed to Jerusalem. After an anxious search of three days 
they found Him in the Temple, discoursing with the 
learned doctors of the law, and asking them such questions 
as raised the admiration of all that heard Him, and made 
them astonished at the ripeness of His understanding ; nor 
were His parents less surprised on this occasion. When 
His Mother told Him with what grief and earnestness they 
had sought Him, and asked, " Son, why hast Thou thus 
dealt with us? behold Thy Father and I sought Thee in 
great affliction of mind," she received for answer, " How is 
it that you sought Me ? did you not know that I must be 
about My Father's business?" But though thus staying 
in the Temple unknown to His parents, in all other things 
He was obedient to them, returning with them to Nazareth, 
and there living in all dutiful subjection to them. As no 
further mention is made of St. Joseph, he must have died 
before the marriage of Cana and the beginning of our 
divine Saviour's ministry. We cannot doubt that he had 
the happiness of Jesus and Mary attending at his death, 
praying by him, assisting and comforting him in his last 
moments; whence he is particularly invoked for the great 
grace of a happy death and the spiritual presence of Jesus 
in that hour. 

Reflection. — St. Joseph, the shadow of the Eternal 
Father upon earth, the protector of Jesus in His home at 
Nazareth, and a lover of all children for the sake of the 
Holy Child, should be the chosen guardian and pattern of 
every true Christian family. 

March 20. — ST. WULFRAN, Archbishop. 

is father was an officer in the armies of King Dago- 
bert, and the Saint spent some years in the court 
of King Clotaire III. and of his mother, St. Bathiides, but 
occupied his heart only on God, despising worldly great- 




118 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [March 20 



ness as empty and dangerous, and daily advancing in 
virtue. His estate of Manrilly he bestowed on the Abbey 
of Fontenelle, or St. Vandrille, in Normandy. He was 
chosen and consecrated Archbishop of Sens in 682, which 
diocese he governed two years and a half with great zeal 
and sanctity. A tender compassion for the blindness' of 
the idolaters of Friesland, and the example of the English 
zealous preachers in those parts, moved him to resign his 
bishopric, with proper advice, and after a retreat at Fon- 
tenelle to enter Friesland in quality of a poor missionary 
priest. He baptized great multitudes, among them a son 
of King Eadbod, and drew the people from the barbarous 
custom of sacrificing men to idols. On a certain occasion, 
one Ovon having been selected as a victim of a sacrifice to 
the heathen gods, St. Wulfran earnestly begged his life of 
King Eadbod; but the people ran tumultuously to the 
palace, and would not suffer what they called a sacrilege. 
After many words they consented, but on condition that 
Wulfran's God should save Ovon's life. The Saint betook 
himself to prayer; the man, after hanging on the gibbet 
two hours, and being left for dead, fell to the ground by 
the breaking of the cord; being found alive he was given to 
the Saint, and became a monk and priest at Fontenelle. 
Wulfran also miraculously rescued two children from being 
drowned in honor of the idols. Eadbod, who had been an 
eye-witness to this last miracle, promised to become a 
Christian; but as he was going to step into the baptismal 
font he asked where the great number of his ancestors and 
nobles were in the next world. The Saint replied that hell 
is the portion of all who die guilty of idolatry; at which 
the prince refused to be baptized, saying he would go with 
the greater number. This tyrant sent afterwards to St. 
Willibrord to treat with him about his conversion, but 
before the arrival of the Saint was found dead. St. Wul- 
fran retired to Fontenelle that he might prepare himself 
for death, and expired there on the 20th of April, 720, 

Reflection. — In every age the Catholic Church is a mis- 
sionary church. She has received the world for her in- 
heritance, and in our own days many missioners have 
watered with their blood the lands in which they labored. 



March 21] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



119 



Help the propagation of the faith by alms, and above all 
by prayers. You will quicken your own faith and gain 
a part in the merits of the glorious apostolate. 



March 21. — ST. BENEDICT, Abbot. 

T. Benedict, blessed by grace and in name, was born 
of a noble Italian family about 480. When a boy he 
was sent to Some, and there placed in the public schools. 
Scared by the licentiousness of the Eoman youth, he fled to 
the desert mountains of Subiaco, and was directed by the 
Holy Spirit into a cave, deep, craggy, and almost inaccessi- 
ble. He lived there for three years, unknown to any one 
save the holy monk Eomanus, who clothed him with the 
monastic habit and brought him food. But the fame of 
his sanctity soon gathered disciples round him. The rigor 
of his rule, however, drew on him the hatred of some of 
the monks, and one of them mixed poison with the abbot's 
drink; but when the Saint made the sign of the cross on 
the poisoned bowd, it broke and fell in pieces to the ground. 
After he had built twelve monasteries at Subiaco, he re- 
moved to Monte Casino, where he founded an abbey in 
which he wrote his rule and lived until death. By prayer 
he did all things: wrought miracles, saw visions, and 
prophesied. A peasant, whose boy had just died, ran in 
anguish to St. Benedict, crying out, " Give me back my 
son ! " The monks joined the poor man in his entreaties ; 
but the .Saint replied, " Such miracles are not for us to 
work, but for the blessed apostles. Why will you lay upon* 
me a burden which my weakness cannot bear ? 99 Moved 
at length by compassion he knelt down and, prostrating 
himself upon the body of the child, prayed earnestly. 
Then rising, he cried out, " Behold not, 0 Lord, my sins, 
but the faith of this man, who desireth the life of his son, 
and restore to the body that soul which Thou hast taken 
away." Hardly had he spoken when the child's body 
began to tremble, and taking it by the hand he restored it 
alive to its father. Six days before his death he ordered 
his grave to be opened, and fell ill of a fever. On the sixth 
day he requested to be borne into the chapel, and, having 




120 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[March 22 



received the body and blood of Christ, with hands uplifted, 
and leaning on one of his disciples, he calmly expired in 
prayer on the 21st of March, 543. 

Reflection. — The Saints never feared to undertake any 
work, however arduous, for God, because, distrusting self, 
they relied for assistance and support wholly upon prayer. 

March 22. — ST. CATHARINE OF SWEDEN, 
Virgin. 

t. Catharine was daughter of Ulpho, Prince of Neri- 
cia in Sweden, and of St. Bridget. The love of God 
seemed almost to prevent in her the use of her reason. At 
seven years of age she was placed in the nunnery of Ris- 
burgh, and educated in piety under the care of the holy 
abbess of that house. Being very beautiful, she was, by 
her father, contracted in marriage to Egard, a young noble- 
man of great virtue; but the virgin persuaded him to join 
with her in making a mutual vow of perpetual chastity. 
By her discourses he became desirous only of heavenly 
graces, and, to draw them down upon his soul more abun- 
dantly, he readily acquiesced in the proposal. The happy 
couple, having but one heart and one desire, by a holy 
emulation excited each other to prayer, mortification, and 
works of charit}'. After the death of her father, St. Catha- 
rine, out of devotion to the Passion of Christ and to the 
relics of the martyrs, accompanied her mother in her 
pilgrimages and practices of devotion and penance. After 
her mother's death at Rome, in 1373, Catharine returned to 
Sweden, and died abbess of Vadzstena, or Vatzen, on the 
24th of March in 1381. For the last twenty-five years of 
her life she every day purified her soul by a sacramental 
confession of her sins. 

Reflection. — Whoever has to dwell in the world stands 
in need of great prudence ; the Holy Scripture itself assures 
us that " the knowledge of the holy is prudence." 




March 23] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 121 



March 23.— STS. VICTORIAN AND OTHERS, 
Martyrs. 

nUNERic, the Arian king of the Vandals in Africa, 
succeeded his father Genseric in 477. He behaved 
himself at first with moderation towards the Catholics, but 
in 480 he began a grievous persecution of the clergy and 
holy virgins, which in 484 became general, and vast num- 
bers of Catholics were put to death. Victorian, one of 
the principal lords of the kingdom, had been made gov- 
ernor of Carthage, with the Eoman title of Proconsul. He 
was the wealthiest subject of the king, who placed great 
confidence in him, and he had ever behaved with an 
inviolable fidelity. The king, after he had published his 
cruel edicts, sent a message to the proconsul, promising, if 
he would conform to his religion, to heap on him the 
greatest wealth and the highest honors which it was in the 
power of a prince to bestow. The proconsul, who amidst 
the glittering pomps of the world perfectly understood its 
emptiness, made this generous answer : " Tell the king 
that I trust in Christ. His Majesty may condemn me to 
any torments, but I shall never consent to renounce the 
Catholic Church, in which I have been baptized. Even if 
there were no life after this, I would never be ungrateful 
and perfidious to God, Who has granted me the happiness 
of knowing Him, and bestowed on me His most precious 
graces." The tyrant became furious at this answer, nor 
can the tortures be imagined which he caused the Saint to 
endure. Victorian suffered them with joy, and amidst 
them finished his glorious martyrdom. The Roman Mar- 
tyrology joins with him on this day four others who were 
crowned in the same persecution. Two brothers, who were 
apprehended for the faith, had promised each other, if 
possible, to die together; and they begged of God, as a 
favor, that they might both suffer the same torments. The 
persecutors hung them in the air with great weights at their 
feet. One of them, under the excess of pain, begged to be 
taken down for a little ease. His brother, fearing that 
this might move him to deny his faith, cried out from the 
rack, " God forbid, dear brother, that you should ask such 



122 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[March 24 



a thing. Is this what we promised to Jesus Christ ? " 
The other was so wonderfully encouraged that he cried out, 
"No, no; I ask not to be released; increase my tortures, 
exert all your cruelties till they are exhausted upon me." 
They were then burned with red-hot plates of iron, and tor- 
mented so long that the executioners at last left them, say- 
ing, " Everybody follows their example ! no one now em- 
braces our religion." This they said chiefly because, not- 
withstanding these brothers had been so long and so griev- 
ously tormented, there were no scars or bruises to be seen 
upon them. Two merchants of Carthage, who both bore 
the name of Frumentius, suffered martyrdom about the 
same time. Among many glorious confessors at that time, 
one Liberatus, an eminent physician, was sent into banish- 
ment with his wife. He only grieved to see his infant 
children torn from him. His wife checked his tears by 
these words : " Think no more of them : Jesus Christ Him- 
self will have care of them and protect their souls." Whilst 
in prison she was told that her husband had conformed. 
Accordingly, when she met him at the bar before the judge, 
she upbraided him in open court for having basely aban- 
doned God ; but discovered by his answer that a cheat had 
been put upon her to deceive hen. into her ruin. Twelve 
young children, when dragged away by the persecutors, 
held their companions by the knees till they were torn away 
by violence. They were most cruelly beaten and scourged 
every day for a long time ; yet by God's grace every one of 
them persevered in the faith to the end of the persecution. 

March 24.— ST. SIMON, Infant Martyr. 

"I^ail, flowers of the martyrs!" the Church sings in 
JLx her Office of the Holy Innocents, who were the first 
to die for Christ; and in every age mere children and 
infants have gloriously confessed His name. In 1472 the 
Jews in the city of Trent determined to vent their hate 
against the Crucified by slaying a Christian child at the 
coming Passover; and Tobias, one of their number, was 
deputed to entrap a victim. He found a bright, smiling 
boy named Simon playing outside his home, with no oi;e 
guarding him. Tobias patted the little fellow's cheek, and 



March 25] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



123 



coaxed him to take his hand. The boy, who was not two 
years old, did so; but he began to call and cry for his 
mother when he found himself being led from home. Then 
Tobias gave him a bright coin to look at, and with many 
kind caresses silenced his grief, and conducted him securely 
to his house. At midnight on Holy Thursday the work of 
butchery began. Having gagged his mouth, they held his 
arms in the form of a cross, while they pierced his tender 
body with awls and bodkins in blasphemous mockery of the 
sufferings of Jesus Christ. After an hour^s torture the 
little martyr lifted his eyes to heaven and gave up his in- 
nocent souL The Jews cast his body into the river; but 
their crime was discovered and punished, while the holy 
relics were enshrined in St. Peter's Church at Trent, where 
they have worked many miracles. 

William of Norwich is another of these children mar- 
tyrs. His parents were simple country folk, but his mother 
was taught by a vision to expect a Saint in her son. As a 
boy he fasted thrice a week and prayed constantly, and he 
was only an apprentice twelve years of age, at a tanner's 
in Norwich, when he won his crown. A little before 
Easter, 113?, he was enticed into a Jew's house, and was 
there gagged, bound, and crucified in hatred of Christ. 
Five years passed before the body was found, when it was 
buried as a saintly relic in the cathedral churchyard. A 
rose-tree planted hard by flowered miraculously in mid- 
winter, and many sick persons were healed at his shrine. 1 

Reflection. — Learn from the infant martyrs that, how- 
ever weak you may be, you still can suffer for Christ's sake. 

March 25.— THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE 
BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 

his great festival takes its name from the happy tid- 
ings brought by the angel Gabriel to the Blessed 
Virgin, concerning the Incarnation of the Son of God. It 
commemorates the most important embassy that was ever 

l it must not be thought that these singular and extraordinary 
instances establish the charge that the slaying of Christian chil- 
dren is part of the Jewish ritual. This accusation against the 
Jews has been proved to be false. 




124 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Maech 25 



known : an embassy sent by the King of kings, performed 
by one of the chief princes of His heavenly court ; directed, 
not to the great ones of this earth, but to alitor, Jiik^own 
virgin, who, being endowed with the most angelic purity 
of soul and body, being withal perfectly humble and de- 
voted to God, was greater in His eyes than the mightiest 
monarch in the world. When the Son of God became man. 
He could have taken upon Him our nature without the co- 
operation of any creature; but He was pleased to be born 
of a woman. In the choice of her whom He raised to this 
most sublime of all dignities, He pitched upon the one who, 
by the riches of His grace and virtues, was of all others the 
most holy and the most perfect. The design of this em- 
bassy of the archangel is to give a Saviour to the world, a 
victim of propitiation to the sinner, a model to the just, a 
son to this Virgin, remaining still a virgin, and a new 
nature to the Son of God, the nature of man, capable of 
suffering pain and anguish in order to satisfy God's justice 
for our transgressions. 

When the angel appeared to Mary and addressed her, 
the Blessed Virgin was troubled : not at the angePs appear- 
ance, says St. Ambrose, for heavenly visions and a com- 
merce with the blessed spirits had been familiar to her ; but 
what alarmed her, he says, was the angel's appearing in 
human form, in the shape of a young man. What might 
add to her fright on the occasion was his addressing her 
in words of praise. Mary, guarded by her modesty, is in 
confusion at expressions of this sort, and dreads the least 
appearance of deluding flattery. Such high commenda- 
tions make her cautious how she answers, till in silence 
she has more fully considered of the matter : " She re- 
volved in her mind/' says St. Luke, "what manner of 
salutation this should be." Ah, what numbers of innocent 
souls have been corrupted for want of using the like pre- 
cautions ! 

The angel, to calm her, says: "Fear not, Mary, for 
thou hast found favor before God/' He then informs her 
that she is to conceive and bring forth a Son Whose name 
shall be Jesus, Who shall be great, and the Son of the Most 
High, and possessed of the throne of David, her illustrious 
ancestor. Mary, out of a just concern to know how she 



March 26] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



125 



may comply with the will of God without prejudice to her 
vow of virginity, inquires, 64 How shall this be ? " Nor 
does she give her consent till the heavenly messenger 
acquaints her that it is to be a work of the Holy Ghost, who, 
in making her fruitful, will not intrench in the least upon 
her virginal purity. 

In submission, therefore, to God's will, without any fur- 
ther inquiries, she expresses her assent in these humble but 
powerful words : " Behold the handmaid of the Lord ; be 
it done to me according to Thy word." What faith and 
confidence does her answer express ! what profound humil- 
ity and perfect obedience ! 

Reflection. — From the example of the Blessed Virgin 
in this mystery, how ardent a love ought we to conceive of 
purity and humility ! The Holy Ghost is invited by purity 
to dwell in souls, but is chased away by the filth of the con- 
trary vice. Humility is the foundation of a spiritual life, 
By it Mary was prepared for the extraordinary graces and 
all virtues with which she was enriched, and for the emi- 
nent dignity of Mother of God. 



March 26.— ST. LUDGER, Bishop. 

@t. Ludger was born in Friesland about the year 743. 
His father, a nobleman of the first rank, at the 
child's own request, committed him very young to the care 
of St. Gregory, the disciple of St. Boniface, and his suc- 
cessors in the government of the see of Utrecht. Gregory 
educated him in his monastery and gave him the clerical 
tonsure. Ludger, desirous of further improvement, passed 
over into England, and spent four years and a half under 
Alcuin, who was rector of a famous school at York. In 
773 he returned home, and St. Gregory dying in 776, his 
successor, Alberic, compelled our Saint to receive the holy 
order of priesthood, and employed him for several years in 
preaching the Word of God in Friesland, where he con- 
verted great numbers, founded several monasteries, and 
built many churches. The pagan Saxons ravaging the 
country, Ludger travelled to Borne to consult Pope Adrian 
II. what course to take, and what he thought God required 



126 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [March 26 



of him. He then retired for three years and a half to 
Monte Casino, where he wore the habit of the Order and 
conformed to the practice of the rule during his stay, but 
made no religious vows. In 787, Charlemagne overcame 
the Saxons and conquered Friesland and the coast of the 
Germanic Ocean as far as Denmark. Ludger, hearing this, 
returned into East Friesland, where he converted the 
Saxons to the Faith, as he also did the province of West- 
phalia. He founded the monastery of Werden, twenty- 
nine miles from Cologne. In 802, Hildebald, Archbishop 
of Cologne, not regarding his strenuous resistance, ordained 
him Bishop of Munster. He joined in his diocese five can- 
tons of Friesland which he had converted, and also 
founded the monastery of Helmstad in the duchy of 
Brunswick. 

Being accused to the Emperor Charlemagne of wasting 
his income and neglecting the embellishment of churches, 
this prince ordered him to appear at court. The morning 
after his arrival the emperor's chamberlain brought him 
word that his attendance was required. The Saint, being 
then at his prayers, told the officer that he would follow 
him as soon as he had finished them. He was sent for 
three several times before he was ready, which the cour- 
tiers represented as a contempt of his Majesty, and the em- 
peror, with some emotion, asked him why he had made 
him wait so long, though he had sent for him so often. 
The bishop answered that though he had the most profound 
respect for his Majesty, yet God was infinitely above him ; 
that whilst we are occupied with Him, it is our duty to 
forget everything else. This answer made such an im- 
pression on the emperor that he dismissed him with honor 
and disgraced his accusers. St. Ludger was favored with 
the gifts of miracles and prophecy. His last sickness, 
though violent, did not hinder him from continuing his 
functions to the very last day of his life, which was Pas- 
sion Sunday, on which day he preached very early in the 
morning, said Mass towards nine, and preached again be- 
fore night, foretelling to those that were about him that 
he should die the following night, and fixing upon a place 
in his monastery of Werden where he chose to be interred. 
He died accordingly on the 26th of March, at midnight. 



Mabch 27] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



127 



Reflection. — Prayer is an action so sublime and super- 
natural that the Church in her Canonical Hours teaches us 
to begin it by a fervent petition of grace to perform it well. 
What an insolence and mockery is it to join with this 
petition an open disrespect and a neglect of all necessary 
precautions against distractions! We ought never to ap- 
pear before God, to tender Him our homages or supplica- 
tions, without trembling, and without being deaf to all 
creatures and shutting all our senses to every object that 
can distract our minds from God. 



March 27. — ST. JOHN OF EGYPT. 

ill he was twenty-five, John worked as a carpenter 
with his father. Then feeling a call from God, he 
left the world and committed himself to a holy solitary in 
the desert. His master tried his spirit by many unreason- 
able commands, bidding him roll the hard rocks, tend 
dead trees, and the like. John obeyed in all things with 
the simplicity of a child. After a careful training of six- 
teen years he withdrew to the top of a steep cliff to think 
only of God and his soul. The more he knew of himself, 
the more he distrusted himself. For the last fifty years, 
therefore, he never saw women, and seldom men. The 
result of this vigilance and purity was threefold : a holy joy 
and cheerfulness which consoled all who conversed with 
him ; perfect obedience to superiors ; and, in return for this, 
authority over creatures, whom he had forsaken for the 
Creator. St. Augustine tells us of his appearing in a 
vision to a holy woman, whose sight he had restored, to 
avoid seeing her face to face. Devils assailed him con- 
tinually, but John never ceased his prayer. From his 
long communings with God, he turned to men with gifts 
of healing and prophecy. Twice each week he spoke 
through a window with those who came to him, blessing oil 
for their sick and predicting things to come. A deacon 
came to him in disguise, and he reverently kissed his hand. 
To the Emperor Theodosius he foretold his future victories 
and the time of his death. The three last days of his life 
John gave wholly to God: on the third he was found on 




128 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [March 28 



his knees as if in prayer, but his soul was with the blessed. 
He died in 394. 

Reflection. — The Saints examine themselves by the per- 
fections of God, and do penance. We judge our conduct 
by the standard of other men, and rest satisfied with it. 
Yet it is by the divine holiness alone that we shall be 
judged when we die. 

March 28, — ST. GONTRAN, King. 

T. Gontran was the son of King Clotaire, and grand- 
son of Clovis I. and St. Clotildis. Being the second 
son, whilst his brothers Charibert reigned at Paris, and 
Sigebert in Ostrasia, residing at Metz, he was crowned king 
of Orleans and Burgundy in 561, making Chalons his capi- 
tal. When compelled to take up arms against his ambitious 
brothers and the Lombards, he made no other use of his 
victories, under the conduct of a brave general called Mom- 
mol, than to give peace to his dominions. The crimes in 
which the barbarous manners of his nation involved him 
he effaced by tears of repentance. The prosperity of his 
reign, both in peace and war, condemns those who think 
that human policy cannot be modelled by the maxims of 
the Gospel, whereas nothing can render a government more 
flourishing. He always treated the pastors of the Church 
with respect and veneration. He was the protector of the 
oppressed, and the tender parent of his subjects. He gave 
the greatest attention to the care of the sick. He fasted, 
prayed, wept, and offered himself to God night and day 
as a victim ready to be sacrificed on the altar of His 
justice, to avert His indignation which he believed he him- 
self had provoked and drawn down upon his innocent 
people. He was a severe punisher of crimes in his officers 
and others, and, by many wholesome regulations, restrained 
the barbarous licentiousness of his troops; but no man 
was more ready to forgive offences against his own person. 
With royal magnificence he built and endowed many 
churches and monasteries. This good king died on the 
23rd of March in 593, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, 
having reigned thirty-one years and some months. 




Maech 29] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



129 



Reflection. — There is no means of salvation more relia- 
ble than the practice of mercy, since Our Lord has said it: 
" Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy 

March 29.— STS. JONAS, BARACHISIUS, and their 
Companions, Martyrs. 

ing Sapor, of Persia, in the eighteenth year of his 
reign, raised a bloody persecution against the Chris- 
tians, and laid waste their churches and monasteries. 
Jonas and Barachisius, two brothers of the city Beth-Asa, 
hearing that several Christians lay under sentence of death 
at Hubaham, went thither to encourage and serve them. 
Nine of that number received the crown of martyrdom. 
After their execution, Jonas and Barachisius were appre- 
hended for having exhorted them to die. The president 
entreated the two brothers to obey the king of Persia, and 
to worship the sun, moon, fire, and water. Their answer 
was, that it was more reasonable to obey the immortal King 
of heaven and earth than a mortal prince. Jonas was 
beaten with knotty clubs and with rods, and next set in a 
frozen pond, with a cord tied to his foot. Barachisius had 
two red-hot iron plates and two red-hot hammers applied 
under each arm, and melted lead dropped into his nostrils 
and eyes; after which he was carried to prison, and there 
hung up by one foot. Despite these cruel tortures, the 
two brothers remained steadfast in the Faith. New and 
more horrible torments were then devised under which at 
last they yielded up their lives, while their pure souls 
winged their flight to heaven, there to gain the martyr's 
crown, which they had so faithfully won. 

Reflection. — Those powerful motives which supported 
the martyrs under the sharpest torments ought to inspire us 
with patience, resignation, and holy joy under sickness and 
all crosses or trials. Nothing is more heroic in the practice 
of Christian virtue, nothing more precious in the sight of 
God, than the sacrifice of patience, submission, constant 
fidelity, and charity in a state of suffering. 




130 



LIVES OF THE 8AINT8 [March 31 



March 30.— ST. JOHN CLIMACUS. 

OHN made, while still young, such progress in learning 
that he was called the Scholastic. At the age of 
sixteen he turned from the brilliant future which lay 
before him, and retired to Mt. Sinai, where he put himself 
under the direction of a holy monk. Never was novice 
more fervent, more unrelaxing in his efforts for self- 
mastery. After four years he took the vows, and an aged 
abbot foretold that he would some day be one of the great- 
est lights of the Church. Nineteen years later, on the 
death of his director, he withdrew into a deeper solitude, 
where he studied the lives and writings of the Saints, and 
was raised to an unusual height of contemplation. The 
fame of his holiness and practical wisdom drew crowds 
around him for advice and consolation. For his greater 
profit he visited the solitudes of Egypt. At the age of 
seventy-five he was chosen abbot of Mt. Sinai, and there 
"he dwelt in the mount of God, and drew from the rich 
treasure of his heart priceless riches of doctrine, which he 
poured forth with wondrous abundance and benediction." 
He was induced by a brother abbot to write the rules by 
which he had guided his life; and his book called the 
Climax, or Ladder of Perfection, has been prized in all 
ages for its wisdom, its clearness, and its unction. At the 
end of four years he would no longer endure the honors 
and distractions of his office, and retired to his solitude, 
where he died, in 605. 

Reflection. — " Cast not from thee, my brother," says 
the Imitation of Christ, " the sure hope of attaining to the 
spiritual life ; still hast thou the time and the means." 

March 31.— ST. BENJAMIN, Deacon, Martyr. 

Xsdegerdes, Son of Sapor III., put a stop to the cruel 
persecutions against the Christians in Persia, which 
had been begun by Sapor II., and the Church had enjoyed 
twelve years' peace in that kingdom, when in 420 it was 
disturbed by the indiscreet zeal of Abdas, a Christian 




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bishop, who burned down the Pyrgeum, or Temple of Fire, 
the great divinity of the Persians. King Isdegerdes 
thereupon demolished all the Christian churches in Persia, 
put to death Abdas, and raised a general persecution 
against the Church, which continued forty years with great 
fury. Isdegerdes died the year following, in 421. But his 
son and successor, Varanes, carried on the persecution with 
greater inhumanity. The very recital of the cruelties he 
exercised on the Christian strikes us with horror. Among 
the glorious champions of Christ was St. Benjamin, a 
deacon. The tyrant caused him to be beaten and im- 
prisoned. He had lain a year in the dungeon, when an 
ambassador from the emperor obtained his release on condi- 
tion that he should never speak to any of the courtiers about 
religion. The ambassador passed his word in his behalf 
that he would not; but Benjamin, who was a minister of 
the Gospel, declared that he should miss no opportunity of 
announcing Christ. The king, being informed that he still 
preached the Faith in his kingdom, ordered him to be ap- 
prehended, caused reeds to be run in between the nails and 
the flesh, both of his hands and feet, and to be thrust into 
other most tender parts, and drawn out again, and this 
to be frequently repeated with violence. Lastly, a knotty 
stake was thrust into his bowels, to rend and tear them, in 
which torment he expired in the year 424. 

Reflection. — We entreat you, 0 most holy martyrs, who 
cheerfully suffered most cruel torments for God our Saviour 
and His love, on which account you are now most inti- 
mately and familiarly united to Him, that you pray to the 
Lord for us miserable sinners, covered with filth, that He 
infuse into us the grace of Christ, that it may enlighten 
our souls that we may love Him. 

April i.— ST. HUGH, Bishop. 

XT was the happiness of this Saint to receive from his 
cradle the strongest impressions of piety by the 
example and care of his illustrious and holy parents. He 
was born at Chateau-neuf, in the territory of Valence in 
Dauphine, in 1053. His father, Odilo, who served his 



132 



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[April 1 



country in an honorable post in the army, labored by all 
the means in his power to make his soldiers faithful ser- 
vants of their Creator, and by severe punishments to re- 
strain vice. By the advice of his son, St. Hugh, he after- 
wards became a Carthusian monk, and died at the age of 
a hundred, having received Extreme Unction and Viaticum 
from the hands of his son. Our Saint likewise assisted, in 
her last moments, his mother, who had for many years, 
under his direction, served God in her own house, by 
prayer, fasting, and plenteous alms-deeds. Hugh, from 
the cradle, appeared to be a child of benediction. He went 
through his studies with great applause, and having chosen 
to serve God in an ecclesiastical state, he accepted a canonry 
in the cathedral of Valence. His great sanctity and learn- 
ing rendered him an ornament of that church, and he was 
finally made Bishop of Grenoble. He set himself at once 
to reprove vice and to reform abuses, and so plentiful was 
the benediction of Heaven upon his labors that he had the 
comfort to see the face of his diocese in a short time 
exceedingly changed. After two years he privately re- 
signed his bishopric, presuming on the tacit consent of the 
Holy See, and, putting on the habit of St. Bennet, he 
entered upon a novitiate in the austere abbey of Casa-Dei 
in Auvergne. There he lived a year, a perfect model of 
all virtues to that house of Saints, till Pope Gregory VII. 
commanded him, in virtue of holy obedience, to resume his 
pastoral charge. 

He earnestly solicited Pope Innocent II. for leave to 
resign his bishopric, that he might die in solitude, but was 
never able to obtain his request. God was pleased to purify 
his soul by a lingering illness before He called him to Him- 
self. Some time before his death he lost his memory for 
everything but his prayers. He closed his penitential 
course on the 1st of April in 1132, wanting only two 
months of being eighty years old, of which he had been 
fifty-two years bishop. Miracles attested the sanctity of 
his happy death, and he was canonized by Innocent II. in 
1134. 

Reflection. — Let us learn from the example of the 
Saints to shun the tumult of the world as much as our 



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133 



circumstances will allow, and give ourselves up to the exer- 
cises of holy solitude, prayer, and pious reading. 



April 2. — ST. FRANCIS OF PAULA. 

HT the age of fifteen Francis left his poor home at 
Paula in Calabria, to live as a hermit in a cave by 
the sea-coast. In time disciples gathered round him, and 
with them, in 1436, he founded the " Minims," so called to 
show that they were the least of monastic Orders. They 
observed a perpetual Lent, and never touched meat, fish, 
eggs, or milk. Francis himself made the rock his bed ; his 
best garment was a hair-shirt, and boiled herbs his only 
fare. As his body withered his faith grew powerful, and 
he "did all things in Him Who strengthened him." He 
cured the sick, raised the dead, averted plagues, expelled 
evil spirits, and brought sinners to penance. A famous 
preacher, instigated by a few misguided monks, set to work 
to preach against St. Francis and his miracles. The Saint 
took no notice of it, and the preacher, finding that he made 
no way with his hearers, determined to see this poor hermit 
and confound him in person. The Saint received him 
kindly, gave him a seat by the fire, and listened to a long 
exposition of his own frauds. He then quietly took some 
glowing embers from the fire, and closing his hands upon 
them unhurt, said, u Come, Father Anthony, warm your- 
self, for you are shivering for want of a little charity." 
Father Anthony, falling at the Saint's feet, asked for 
pardon, and then, having received his embrace, quitted 
him, to become his panegyrist and attain himself to great 
perfection. When the avaricious King Ferdinand of 
Naples offered him money for his convent, Francis told 
him to give it back to his oppressed subjects, and softened 
his heart by causing blood to flow from the ill-gotten coin. 
Louis XL of France, trembling at the approach of death, 
sent for the poor hermit to ward off the foe whose advance 
neither his fortresses nor his guards could check. Francis 
went by the Pope's command, and prepared the king for a 
holy death. The successors of Louis showered favors on 
the Saint, his Order spread throughout Europe, and his 



134 



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[April 3 



name was reverenced through the Christian world. He 
died at the age of ninety-one, on (rood Friday, 1507, with 
the crucifix in his hand, and the last words of Jesus on his 
lips, " Into Thy hands, 0 Lord, I commend my spirit/' 

Reflection. — Eely in all difficulties upon God. That 
which enabled .St. Francis to work miracles will in propor- 
tion do wonders for yourself, by giving you strength and 
consolation. 

April 3 — ST. RICHARD OF CHICHESTER. 

ichard was born, 1197, in the little town of Wyche, 
eight miles from Worcester, England. He and his 
elder brother were left orphans when 4 ' young, and Eichard 
gave up the studies which he loved, to farm his brother's 
impoverished estate. His brother, in gratitude for Bich- 
ard's successful care, proposed to make over to him all 
his lands; but he refused both the estate and the offer of 
a brilliant marriage, to study for the priesthood at Ox- 
ford. In 1235 he was appointed, for his learning and 
piety, chancellor of that University, and afterwards, by 
St. Edmund of Canterbury, chancellor of his diocese. He 
stood by that Saint in his long contest with the king, and 
accompanied him into exile. After St. Edmund's death 
Eichard returned to England to toil as a simple curate, but 
was soon elected Bishop of Chichester in preference to the 
worthless nominee of Henry III. The king in revenge re- 
fused to recognize the election, and seized the revenues of 
the see. Thus Eichard found himself fighting the same 
battle in which St. Edmund had died. He went to Lyons, 
was there consecrated by Innocent IV. in 1245, and return- 
ing to England, in spite of his poverty and the king's hos- 
tilit} r , exercised fully his episcopal rights, and thoroughly 
reformed his see. After two years his revenues were re- 
stored. Young and old loved St. Eichard. He gave all he 
had, and worked miracles, to feed the poor and heal the 
sick; but when the rights or purity of the Church were 
concerned he was inexorable. A priest of noble blood pol- 
luted his office by sin; Eichard deprived him of his bene- 
fice, and refused the king's petition in his favor. On the 




April 4] 



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135 



other hand, when a knight violently put a priest in prison, 
Eichard compelled the knight to walk round the priest's 
church with the same log of wood on his neck to which 
he had chained the priest ; and when the burgesses of Lewes 
tore a criminal from the church and hanged him, Eichard 
made them dig up the body from its unconsecrated grave, 
and bear it back to the sanctuary they had violated. Eich- 
ard died in 1253, while preaching, at the Pope's command, 
a crusade against the Saracens. 

Reflection. — As a brother, as chancellor, and as bishop, 
St. Eichard faithfully performed each duty of his state 
without a thought of his own interests. Neglect of duty is 
the first sign of that self-love which ends with the loss of 
grace. 

April 4.— ST. ISIDORE, Archbishop. 

Xsidore was born of a ducal family, at Carthagena in 
Spain. His two brothers, Leander, Archbishop of 
Seville, Fulgentius, Bishop of Ecija, and his sister Floren- 
tina, are Saints. As a boy he despaired at his ill success in 
study, and ran away from school. Eesting in his flight at 
a roadside spring, he observed a stone, which was hollowed 
out by the dripping water. This decided him to return, 
and by hard application he succeeded where he had failed. 
He went back to his master, and with the help of God be- 
came, even as a youth, one of the most learned men of the 
time. He assisted in converting Prince Becared, the leader 
of the Arian party; and with his aid, though at the con- 
stant peril of his own life, he expelled that heresy from 
Spain. Then, following a call from God, he turned a deaf 
ear to the entreaties of his friends, and embraced a hermit's 
life. Prince Eecared and many of the nobles and clergy of 
Seville went to persuade him to come forth, and represented 
the needs of the times, and the good he could do, and had 
already done, among the people. He refused, and, as far 
as we can judge, that refusal gave him the necessary oppor- 
tunity of acquiring the virtue and the power which after- 
wards made him an illustrious Bishop and Doctor of the 
Church. On the death of his brother Leander he was called 



136 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



[April 5 



to fill the vacant see. As a teacher, ruler, founder, and 
reformer, he labored not only in his own diocese, but 
throughout Spain, and even in foreign countries. He died 
in Seville on April 4, 636, and within sixteen years of his 
death was declared a Doctor of the Catholic Church. 

Reflection. — The strength of temptation usually lies in 
the fact that its object is something flattering to our pride, 
soothing to our sloth, or in some way attractive to the 
meaner passions. St. Isidore teaches us to listen neither 
to the promptings of nature nor the plausible advice of 
friends when they contradict the voice of God. 

April 5— ST. VINCENT FERRER. 

his wonderful apostle, the " Angel of the Judgment," 
was born at Valencia in Spain, in 1350, and at the 
age of eighteen professed in the Order of St. Dominic. 
After a brilliant course of study he became master of 
sacred theology. For three years he read only the Scrip- 
tures, and knew the whole Bible by heart. He converted 
the Jews of Valencia, and their synagogue became a church. 
Grief at the great schism then afflicting the Church reduced 
him to the point of death ; but Our Lord Himself in glory 
bade him go forth to convert sinners, " for My judgment is 
nigh." This miraculous apostolate lasted twenty-one years. 
He preached throughout Europe, in the towns and villages 
of Spain, Switzerland, France, Italy, England, Ireland, 
Scotland. Everywhere tens of thousands of sinners were 
reformed; Jews, infidels, and heretics were converted. 
Stupendous miracles enforced his words. Twice each day 
the " miracle bell " summoned the sick, the blind, the lame 
to be cured. Sinners the most obdurate became Saints; 
speaking only his native Spanish, he was understood in all 
tongues. Processions of ten thousand penitents followed 
him in perfect order. Convents, orphanages, hospitals, 
arose in his path. Amidst all, his humility remained pro- 
found, his prayer constant. He always prepared for 
preaching by prayer. Once, however, when a person of 
high rank was to be present at his sermon he neglected 
prayer for study. The nobleman was not particularly 




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137 



struck by the discourse which had been thus carefully 
worked up; but coming again to hear the Saint, unknown 
to the latter, the second sermon made a deep impression on 
his soul. When St. Vincent heard of the difference, he re- 
marked that in the first sermon it was Vincent who had 
preached, but in the second, Jesus Christ. He fell ill at 
Vannes in Brittany, and received the crown of everlasting 
glory in 1419. 

Reflection. — "Whatever you do," said St. Vincent, 
"think not of yourself, but of God." In this spirit he 
preached, and God spoke by him; in this spirit, if we listen, 
we shall hear the voice of God. 

April 6.—ST. CELESTINE, Pope. 

t. Celestine was a native of Eome, and upon the de- 
mise of Pope Boniface he was chosen to succeed him, 
in September 422, by the wonderful consent of the whole 
city. His first official act was to confirm the condemna- 
tion of an African bishop who had been convicted of grave 
crimes. He wrote also to the bishops of the provinces of 
Vienne and Xarbonne in Gaul, to correct several abuses, 
and ordered, among other things, that absolution or recon- 
ciliation should never be refused to any dying sinner who 
sincerely asked it ; for repentance depends not so much on 
time as on the heart. He assembled a synod at Eome in 
430, in which the writings of Nestorius were examined, and 
his blasphemies in maintaining in Christ a divine and a 
human person were condemned. The Pope pronounced 
sentence of excommunication against Nestorius, and de- 
posed him. Being informed that Agricola, the son of a 
British bishop called Saverianus, who had been married 
before he was raised to the priesthood, had spread the seeds 
of the Pelagian heresy in Britain, St. Celestine sent thither 
St. Germanus of Auxerre, whose zeal and conduct happily 
prevented the threatening danger. He also sent St. Pal- 
ladius, a Eoman, to preach the Faith to the Scots, both in 
Xorth Britain and in Ireland, and many authors of the life 
of St. Patrick say that apostle likewise received his com- 
mission to preach to the Irish from St. Celestine, in 431. 




138 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[Apsil 7 



This holy Pope died on the 1st of August, in 432, having 
reigned almost ten years. 

Reflection. — Vigilance is truly needful to those to whom 
the care of souls has been confided. " Blessed are the ser- 
vants whom the Lord at His coming shall find watching." 

April 7. — ST. HEGESIPPUS, a Primitive Father. 

e was by birth a Jew, and belonged to the Church of 
Jerusalem, but travelling to Some, he lived there 
nearly twenty years, from the pontificate of Anicetus to 
that of Eleutherius, in 177, when he returned into the East, 
where he died at an advanced age, probably at Jerusalem, 
in the year of Christ 180, according to the chronicle of 
Alexandria. He wrote in the year 133 a History of the 
Church in five books, from the Passion of Christ down to 
his own time, the loss of which work is extremely regretted. 
In it he gave illustrious proofs of his faith, and showed 
the apostolical tradition, and that though certain men had 
disturbed the Church by broaching heresies, yet down to 
his time no episcopal see or particular church had fallen 
into error. This testimony he gave after having personally 
visited all the principal churches, both of the East and the 
West. 



BLESSED HERMAN JOSEPH OF STEINFELD. 

erman" from his earliest years was a devoted client 
of the Mother of God. As a little child he used to 
spend all his playtime in the church at Cologne before an 
image of Mary, where he received many favors. One bitter 
winter day, as little Herman was coming barefooted into 
church, his heavenly Mother appearing to him, asked him 
lovingly why his feet were bare in such cold weather. 
" Alas ! dear Lady," he said, " it is because my parents 
are so poor." She pointed to a stone, telling him to look 
beneath it; there he found four silver pieces wherewith to 
buy shoes. He did not forget to return and thank her. 
She enjoined him to go to the same spot in all his wants, 





April 8] 



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139 



and disappeared. Never did the supply fail him; but his 
comrades, moved by a different spirit, could find nothing. 
Once Our Lady stretched out her hand, and took an apple 
which the boy offered her in pledge of his love. Another 
time he saw her high up in the tribune, with the Holy Child 
and St. John; he longed to join them, but saw no way of 
doing so; suddenly he found himself placed by their side, 
and holding sweet converse with the Infant J esus. At the 
age of twelve he entered the Premonstratensian house at 
Steinf eld, and there led an angelic life of purity and prayer. 
His fellow-novices, seeing what graces he received from 
Mary, called him J oseph ; and when he shrank from so high 
an honor, Our Lady in a vision took him as her spouse, and 
bade him bear the name. Jealously she reproved the small- 
est faults in her betrothed, and once appeared to him as an 
old woman, to upbraid him for some slight want of devo- 
tion. As her dowry, she conferred on him the most cruel 
sufferings of mind and body, which were especially severe 
on the great feasts of the Church. But with the cross 
Mary brought him the grace to bear it bravely, and thus 
his heart was weaned from earthly things, and he was made 
ready for his early and saintly death, which took place 
about the year 1230. 

Reflection. — Do not approach our Blessed Mother with 
set prayers only. Be intimate with her; confide in her; 
commend to her every want and every project, small as 
well as great. It is a childlike reliance and a trustful ap- 
peal which she delights to reward. 



April 8.— ST. PERPETUUS, Bishop. 

@T. Perpetuus was the eighth Bishop of Tours from St. 
Gatian, and governed that see above thirty years, 
from 461 to 491, when he died on the 8th of April. Dur- 
ing all that time he labored by zealous sermons, many 
synods, and wholesome regulations, to lead souls to virtue. 
St. Perpetuus had a great veneration for the Saints, and 
respect for their relics, adorned their shrines, and enriched 
their churches. As there was a continual succession of 
miracles at the tomb of St. Martin, Perpetuus finding the 



140 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[April 9 



church built by St. Bricius too small for the concourse of 
people that resorted thither, directed its enlargement. 
When the building was finished, the good bishop solem- 
nized the dedication of this new church, and performed the 
translation of the body of St. Martin, on the 4th of July in 
473. Our Saint made and signed his last will, which is 
still extant, on the 1st of March, 475, fifteen years before 
his death. By it he remits all debts that were owing to 
him ; and having bequeathed to his church his library and 
several farms, and settled a fund for the maintenance, of 
lamps, and the purchase of sacred vessels, as occasion might 
require, he declares the poor his heirs. He adds most 
pathetic exhortations to concord and piety; and bequeaths 
to his sister, Pidia J ulia Perpetua, a little gold cross, with 
relics ; he leaves legacies to several other friends and priests, 
begging of each a remembrance of him in their prayers. 
His ancient epitaph equals him to the great St. Martin. 

Reflection. — The smart of poverty, says a spiritual 
writer, is allayed even more by one word of true sympathy 
than by the alms we give. Alms coldly and harshly given 
irritate rather than soothe. Even when we cannot give, 
words of kindness are as a precious balm ; and when we can 
give, they are the salt and seasoning of our alms. 



April 9.— ST. MARY OF EGYPT. 

BT the tender age of twelve, Mary left her father's 
house that she might sin without restraint, and for 
seventeen years she lived in shame at Alexandria. Then 
she accompanied a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and entangled 
many in grievous sin. She was in that city on the Feast of 
the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and went with the crowd 
to the church which contained the precious wood. The 
rest entered and adored ; but Mary was invisibly held back. 
In that instant her misery and pollution burst upon her. 
Turning to the Immaculate Mother, whose picture faced 
her in the porch, she vowed thenceforth to do penance if 
she might enter and stand like Magdalen beside the Cross. 
Then she entered in. As she knelt before Our Lady on 
leaving the church, a voice came to her which said, " Pass 



April 9] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



141 



over Jordan, and thou shalt find rest." She went into the 
wilderness, and there, in 420, forty-seven years after, the 
Abbot Zosimus met her. She told him that for seventeen 
years the old songs and scenes had haunted her; ever 
since, she had had perfect peace. At her request he brought 
her on Holy Thursday the sacred body of Christ. She 
bade him return again after a year, and this time he found 
her corpse upon the sand, with an inscription saying, 
" Bury here the body of Mary the sinner." 

Reflection. — Blessed John Colombini was converted to 
God by reading St. Mary's life. Let us, too, learn from 
her not to be content with confessing and lamenting our 
sins, but to fly from what leads us to commit them. 

ST. JOHN THE ALMONER. 

@t. J ohn was married, but when his wife and two chil- 
dren died he considered it a call from God to lead a 
perfect life. He began to give away all he possessed in 
alms, and became known throughout the East as the Al- 
moner. He was appointed Patriarch of Alexandria; but 
before he would take possession of his see he told his serv- 
ants to go over the town and bring him a list of his lords 
— meaning the poor. They brought word that there were 
seventy-five hundred of them, and these he undertook to 
feed every day. On Wednesday and Friday in every week 
he sat on a bench before the church, to hear the complaints 
of the needy and aggrieved; nor would he permit his serv- 
ants to taste food until their wrongs were redressed. The 
fear of death was ever before him, and he never spoke an 
idle word. He turned those out of church whom he saw 
talking, and forbade all detractors to enter his house. He 
left seventy churches in Alexandria, where he had found 
but seven. A merchant received from St. John five pounds 
weight of gold to buy merchandise. Having suffered ship- 
wreck and lost all, he had again recourse to John, who 
said, " Some of your merchandise was ill-gotten," and 
gave him ten pounds more; but the next voyage he lost 
ship as well as goods. John then said, " The ship was 
wrongfully acquired. Take fifteen pounds of gold, buy 



142 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [April 10 



corn with it, and put it on one of my ships" This time 
the merchant was carried by the winds without his own 
knowledge to England, where there was a famine ; and he 
sold the corn for its weight in tin, and on his return he 
found the tin changed to finest silver. St. John died in 
Cyprus, his native place, about the year 619. 

Reflection. — What sacrifices can we make for the poor 
which will seem enough, when we reflect that mercy to 
them is our only means of repaying Jesus Christ, Who 
sacrificed His life for us? 

April io. — ST. BADEMUS, Martyr. 

ademus was a rich and noble citizen of Bethlapeta in 
Persia, who founded a monastery near that city, 
which he governed with great sanctity. He conducted his 
religious in the paths of perfection with sweetness, pru- 
dence, and charity. To crown his virtue, God permitted 
him, with seven of his monks, to be apprehended by the 
followers of King Sapor, in the thirty-sixth year of his 
persecution. He lay four months in a dungeon, loaded 
with chains, during which lingering martyrdom he every 
day received a number of stripes. But he triumphed over 
his torments by the patience and joy with which he suffered 
them for Christ. At the same time, a Christian lord 
named Nersan, Prince of Aria, was cast into prison be- 
cause he refused to adore the sun. At first he showed some 
resolution ; but at the sight of tortures his constancy failed 
him, and he promised to conform. The king, to try if his 
change was sincere, ordered Bademus to be introduced into 
the prison of Nersan, which was a chamber in the royal 
palace, and sent word to Nersan that if he would despatch 
Bademus, he should be restored to his liberty and former 
dignities. The wretch accepted the condition ; a sword was 
put into his hand, and he advanced to plunge it into the 
breast of the abbot. But being seized with a sudden terror, 
he stopped short, and remained some time without being 
able to lift up his arm to strike. He had neither courage 
to repent, nor heart to accomplish his crime. He strove, 
however, to harden himself, and continued with a trem- 




April 11] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 143 

bling hand to aim at the sides of the martyr. Fear, shame, 
remorse, and respect for the martyr made his strokes 
forceless and unsteady; and so great was the number of 
the martyr's wounds, that the bystanders were in admira- 
tion at his invincible patience. After four strokes, the 
martyr's head was severed from the trunk. Nersan a short 
time after, falling into public disgrace, perished by the 
sword. The body of St. Bademus was reproachfully cast 
out of the city by the infidels, but was secretly carried away 
and interred by the Christians. His disciples were re- 
leased from their chains four years afterward, upon the 
death of King Sapor. St. Bademus suffered on the 10th 
of April in the year 376. 

Reflection. — Oh ! what ravishing delights does the soul 
taste which is accustomed, by a familiar habit, to converse 
in the heaven of its own interior with the Three Persons of 
the adorable Trinity! Worldlings wonder how holy soli- 
taries can pass their whole time buried in the most pro- 
found solitude and silence. But those who have had any 
experience of this happiness are surprised, with far greater 
reason, how it is possible that any souls which are created 
to converse eternally with God should here live in constant 
dissipation, seldom entertaining a devout thought of Him 
Whose charms and sweet conversation eternally ravish all 
the blessed. 

April ii.— ST. LEO THE GREAT. 

Heo was born at Eome. He embraced the sacred min- 
istry, was made archdeacon of the Soman Church 
by St. Celestine, and under him and Sixtus III. had a large 
share in governing the Church. On the death of Sixtus, 
Leo was chosen Pope, and consecrated on St. Michael's 
day, 440, amid great joy. It was a time of terrible trial. 
Vandals and Huns were wasting the provinces of the em- 
pire, and ISTestorians, Pelagians, and other heretics wrought 
more grievous havoc among souls. Whilst Leo's zeal made 
head against these perils, there arose the new heresy of 
Eutyches, who confounded the two natures of Christ. At 
once the vigilant pastor proclaimed the true doctrine of the 



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Incarnation in his famous "tome;" but fostered by the 
Byzantine court, the heresy gained a strong hold amongst 
the Eastern monks and bishops. After three years of un- 
ceasing toil, Leo brought about its solemn condemnation by 
the Council of Chalcedon, the Fathers all signing his tome, 
and exclaiming, " Peter hath spoken by Leo." Soon after, 
Attila with his Huns broke into Italy, and marched through 
its burning cities upon Eome. Leo went out boldly to meet 
him, and prevailed on him to turn back. Astonished to 
see the terrible Attila, the " Scourge of God," fresh from 
the sack of Aquileia, Milan, Pavia, with the rich prize of 
Eome within his grasp, turn his great host back to the 
Danube at the Saint's word, his chiefs asked him why he 
had acted so strangely. He answered that he saw two 
venerable personages, supposed to be Sts. Peter and Paul, 
standing behind Leo, and impressed by this vision he with- 
drew. If the perils of the Church are as great now as in 
St. Leo's day, St. Peter's solicitude is not less. Two years 
later the city fell a prey to the Vandals; but even then 
Leo saved it from destruction. He died a. d. 461, having 
ruled the Church twenty years. 

Reflection. — Leo loved to ascribe all the fruits of his 
unsparing labors to the glorious chief of the apostles, who, 
he often declared, lives and governs in his successors. 

April 12.— ST. JULIUS, Pope. 

t. Julius was a Eoman, and chosen Pope on the 6th of 
February in 337. The Arian bishops in the East 
sent to him three deputies to accuse St. Athanasius, the 
zealous Patriarch of Alexandria. These accusations, as the 
order of justice required, Julius imparted to Athanasius, 
who thereupon sent his deputies to Eome ; when, upon an 
impartial hearing, the advocates of the heretics were eon- 
founded and silenced upon every article of their accusation. 
The Arians then demanded a council, and the Pope assem- 
bled one in Eome in 341. The Arians instead of appear- 
ing held a pretended council at Antioch in 341, in which 
they presumed to appoint one Gregory, an impious Arian, 
Bishop of Alexandria, detained the Pope's legates beyond 




April 13] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



145 



the time mentioned for their appearance; and then wrote 
to his Holiness, alleging a pretended impossibility of their 
appearing, on account of the Persian war and other im- 
pediments. The Pope easily saw through these pretences, 
and in a council at Eome examined the cause of St. 
Athanasius, declared him innocent of the things laid to 
his charge by the Arians, and confirmed him in his see. 
He also acquitted Marcellus of Ancyra, upon his orthodox 
profession of faith. He drew up and sent by Count Gabian 
to the Oriental Eusebian bishops, who had first demanded 
a council and then refused to appear in it, an excellent 
letter, which is looked upon as one of the finest monu- 
ments of ecclesiastical antiquity. Finding the Eusebians 
still obstinate, he moved Constans, Emperor of the West, to 
demand the concurrence of his brother Constantius in the 
assembling of a general council at Sardica in Illyricum. 
This was opened in May 347, and declared St. Athanasius 
and Marcellus of Ancyra orthodox and innocent, deposed 
certain Arian bishops, and framed twenty-one canons of 
discipline. St. Julius reigned fifteen years, two months, 
and six days, dying on the 12th of April, 352. 



April 13.— ST. HERMENEGILD, Martyr. 

eovigild, King of the Visigoths, had two sons, Her- 
menegild and Eecared, who reigned conjointly with 
him. All three were Arians, but Hermenegild married a 
zealous Catholic, the daughter of Sigebert, King of Prance, 
and by her holy example was converted to the faith. His 
father, on hearing the news, denounced him as a traitor, 
and marched to seize his person. Hermenegild tried to 
Tally the Catholics of Spain in his defence, but they were 
too weak to make any stand, and, after a two years' fruit- 
less struggle, he surrendered on the assurance of a free 
pardon. When safely in the royal camp, the king had him 
loaded with fetters and cast into a foul dungeon at Seville. 
Tortures and bribes were in turn employed to shake his 
faith, but Hermenegild wrote to his father that he held the 
crown as nothing, and preferred to lose sceptre and life 
rather than betray the truth of God. At length, on Easter 




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[April 14 



night, an Arian bishop entered his cell, and promised him 
his father's pardon if he would but receive Communion at 
his hands. Hermenegild indignantly rejected the offer, 
and knelt with joy for his death-stroke. The same night a 
light streaming from his cell told the Christians who were 
watching near that the martyr had won his crown, and was 
keeping his Easter with the Saints in glory. 

Leovigild on his death-bed, though still an Arian, bade 
Eecared seek out St. Leander, whom he had himself cruelly 
persecuted, and, following Hermenegild's example, be re- 
ceived by him into the Church. Eecared did so, and on 
his father's death labored so earnestly for the extirpation 
of Arianism that he brought over the whole nation of the 
Visigoths to the Church. "'Nor is it to be wondered," says 
St. Gregory, "that he came thus to be a preacher of the 
true faith, seeing that he was brother of a martyr, whose 
merits did help him to bring so many into the lap of God's 
Church." 

Reflection. — St. Hermenegild teaches us that constancy 
and sacrifice are the best arguments for the Faith, and the 
surest way to win souls to God. 

April 14.— ST. BENEZET, or Little Bennet. 

t. Bekezet kept his mother's sheep in the country, 
and as a mere child was devoted to practices of 
piety. As many persons were drowned in crossing the 
Ehone, Benezet was inspired by God to build a bridge over 
that rapid river at Avignon. He obtained the approbation 
of the bishop, proved his mission by miracles, and began 
the work in 1177, which he directed during seven years. 
He died when the difficulty of the undertaking was over, in 
1184. This is attested by public monuments drawn up at 
that time and still preserved at Avignon, where the story is 
in everybody's mouth. His body was buried upon the 
bridge itself, which was not completely finished till four 
years after his decease, the structure whereof was attended 
with miracles from the first laying of the foundations till 
it was completed in 1188. Other miracles wrought after 
this at his tomb induced the city to build a chapel upon the 




April 15] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



147 



bridge, in which his body lay nearly five hundred years. 
But in 1669 a greater part of the bridge falling down 
through the impetuosity of the waters, the coffin was taken 
up, and being opened in 1670 in presence of the grand 
vicar, during the vacancy of the archiepiscopal see, the 
body was found entire, without the least sign of corrup- 
tion; even the bowels were perfectly sound, and the color 
of the eyes lively and sprightly, though, through the damp- 
ness of the situation, the iron bars about the coffin were 
much damaged, with rust. The body was found in the 
same condition by the Archbishop of Avignon in 1674, 
when, accompanied by the Bishop of Orange and a great 
concourse of nobility, he performed the translation of it, 
with great pomp, into the Church of the Celestines, this 
Order having obtained of Louis XIV. the honor of being 
intrusted with the custody of his relics till such time as 
the bridge and chapel should be rebuilt. 

Reflection. — Let us pray for perseverance in good works. 
St. Augustine says, " When the Saints pray in the words 
which Christ taught, they ask for little else than the gift 
of perseverance." 

April 15.— ST. PATERNUS, Bishop. 

t. Paternus was born at Poitiers, about the year 482. 
His father, Patranus, with the consent of his wife, 
went into Ireland, where he ended his days in holy solitude. 
Paternus, fired by his example, embraced a monastic life in 
tbe abbey of Marnes. After some time, burning with a 
desire of attaining to the perfection of Christian virtue, he 
passed over to Wales, and in Cardiganshire founded a mon- 
astery called Llan-patern-vaur, or the church of the great 
Paternus. He made a visit to his father in Ireland, but 
being called back to his monastery of Marnes, he soon after 
retired with St. Scubilion, a monk of that house, and em- 
braced an austere anchoretical life in the forests of Scicy, 
in the diocese of Coutances, near the sea, having first ob- 
tained leave of the bishop and of the lord of the place. 
This desert, which was then of great extent, but which has 
been since gradually gained upon by the sea, was anciently 




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LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [April 16 



in great request among the Druids. St. Paternus con- 
verted to the faith the idolaters of that and many neigh- 
boring parts, as far as Bayeux, and prevailed upon them to 
demolish a pagan temple in this desert, which was held in 
great veneration by the ancient Gauls. In his old age he 
was consecrated Bishop of Avranches by Germanus, Bishop 
of Eouen. 

Some false brethren having created a division of opinion 
among the bishops of the province with respect to St. Pa- 
ternus, he preferred retiring rather than to afford any 
ground for dissension, and, after governing his diocese for 
thirteen years, he withdrew to a solitude in France, and 
there ended his days about the year 550. 

Reflection. — The greatest sacrifices imposed by the love 
of peace will appear as naught if we call to mind the exam- 
ple of Our Saviour, and remember His words, " Blessed are 
the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of 
God/' 

April i6.— EIGHTEEN MARTYRS OF SARA- 
GOSSA, and ST. ENCRATIS, or ENGRATIA, 
Virgin, Martyr. 

t. Optatus and seventeen other holy men received the 
crown of martyrdom on the same day, at Saragossa, 
under the cruel Governor Dacian, in the persecution of 
Diocletian, in 304. Two others, Caius and Crementius, 
died of their torments after a second conflict. 

The Church also celebrates on this day the triumph of 
St. Encratis, or Engratia, Virgin. .She was a native of 
Portugal. Her father had promised her in marriage to a 
man of quality in Bousillon; but fearing the dangers and 
despising the vanities of the world, and resolving to pre- 
serve her virginity, in order to appear more agreeable to 
her heavenly Spouse and serve Him without hindrance, she 
stole from her father's house and fled privately to Sara- 
gossa, where the persecution was hottest, under the eyes of 
Dacian. She even reproached him with his barbarities, 
upon which he ordered her to be long tormented in the 




April 17] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



149 



most inhuman manner: her sides were torn with iron 
hooks, and one of her breasts was cut off, so that the inner 
parts of her chest were exposed to view, and part of her 
liver was pulled out. In this condition she was sent back 
to prison, being still alive, and died by the mortifying of 
her wounds, in 304. The relics of all these martyrs were 
found at Saragossa in 1389. 

Reflection. — Men do not pursue temporal goods at hap- 
hazard, or by fits and starts. Let us be as punctual and 
orderly in the service of God, not casting about for new 
paths, but perfecting our ordinary devotions. If we per- 
severe in these, Paradise is ours. 



April 17.— ST. ANICETUS, Pope, Martyr. 

T. Antcetus succeeded St. Pius, and sat about eight 
years, from 165 to 173. If he did not shed his blood 
for the Faith, he at least purchased the title of martyr by 
great sufferings and dangers. He received a visit from St. 
Potycarp., and tolerated the custom of the Asiatics in cele- 
brating Easter on the 14th day of the first moon after the 
vernal equinox, with the Jews. His vigilance protected his 
flock from the wiles of the heretics Valentine and Marcion, 
who sought to corrupt the faith in the capital of the world. 

The first thirty-six bishops at Eome, down to Liberius, 
and, this one excepted, all the popes to Symmachus, the 
fifty-second, in 498, are honored among the Saints; and 
out of two hundred and forty-eight popes, from St. Peter 
to Clement XIII. seventy-eight are named in the Koman 
Martyrology. In the primitive ages, the spirit of fervor 
and perfect sanctity, which is nowadays so rarely to be 
found, was conspicuous in most of the faithful, and espe- 
cially in their pastors. The whole tenor of their lives 
breathed it in such a manner as to render them the miracles 
of the world, angels on earth, living copies of their divine 
Eedeemer, the odor of w r hose virtues and holy law and re- 
ligion they spread on every side. 

Reflection. — If, after making the most solemn protesta- 
tions of inviolable friendship and affection for a fellow- 




150 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [April 18 



creature, we should the next moment revile and contemn 
him, without having received any provocation or affront, 
and this habitually, would not the whole world justly call 
our protestations hypocrisy, and our pretended friendship 
a mockery? Let us by this rule judge if our love of God 
be sovereign, so long as our inconstancy betrays the insin- 
cerity of our hearts. 



April 18.— ST. APOLLONIUS, Martyr. 

ARCtJS Aurelius had persecuted the Christians, but 
his son Commodus, who in 180 succeeded him, 
showed himself favorable to them out of regard to his Em- 
press Marcia, who was an admirer of the Faith. During 
this calm the number of the faithful was exceedingly in- 
creased, and many persons of the first rank, among them 
Apollonius, a Eoman senator, enlisted themselves under 
the banner of the cross. He was a person very well versed 
both in philosophy and the Holy Scripture. In the midst 
of the peace which the Church enjoyed, he was publicly 
accused of Christianity by one of his own slaves. The slave 
was immediately condemned to have his legs broken, and 
to be put to death, in consequence of an edict of Marcus 
Aurelius, who, without repealing the former laws against 
convicted Christians, ordered by it that their accusers 
should be put to death. The slave being executed, the 
same judge sent an order to St. Apollonius to renounce his 
religion as he valued his life and fortune. The Saint cour- 
ageously rejected such ignominious terms of safety, 
wherefore Perennis referred him to the judgment of the 
Eoman senate, to give an account of his faith to that body. 
Persisting in his refusal to comply with the condition, the 
Saint was condemned by a decree of the Senate, and be- 
headed about the year 186. 

Reflection. — It is the prerogative of the Christian reli- 
gion to inspire men with such resolution, and form them to 
such heroism, that they rejoice to sacrifice their life to 
truth. This is not the bare force and exertion of nature, 
but the undoubted power of the Almighty, Whose strength 
is thus made perfect in weakness. Every Christian ought, 




April 19] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



151 



by his manner, to bear witness to the sanctity of his faith. 
Such would be the force of universal good example, that 
no libertine or infidel could withstand it. 

April 19.— ST. ELPHEGE, Archbishop. 

t. Elphege was born in the year 954, of a noble Saxon 
family. He first became a monk in the monastery 
of Deerhurst, near Tewkesbury, England, and afterwards 
lived as a hermit near Bath, where he founded a com- 
munity under the rule of St. Benedict, and became its first 
abbot. At thirty years of age he was chosen Bishop of 
Winchester, and twenty-two years later he became Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury. In 1011, when the Danes landed in 
Kent and took the city of Canterbury, putting all to fire 
and sword, St. Elphege was captured and carried off in the 
expectation of a large ransom. He was unwilling that his 
ruined church and people should be put to such expense, 
and was kept in a loathsome prison at Greenwich for seven 
months. While so confined some friends came and urged 
him tolfiay a tax upon his tenants to raise the sum de- 
manded for his ransom. " What reward can I hope for," 
said he, " if I spend upon myself what belongs to the poor ? 
Better give up to the poor what is ours, than take from 
them the little which is their own." As he still refused to 
give ransom, the enraged Danes fell upon him in a fury, 
beat him with the blunt sides of their weapons, and bruised 
him with stones until one, whom the Saint had baptized 
shortly before, put an end to his sufferings by the blow of 
an axe. He died on Easter Saturday, April 19, 1012, his 
last words being a prayer for his murderers. His body was 
first buried in St. Paul's, London, but was afterwards 
translated to Canterbury by King Canute. A church dedi- 
cated to St. Elphege still stands upon the place of his 
martyrdom at Greenwich. 

Reflection. — Those who are in high positions should 
consider themselves as stewards rather than masters of the 
wealth or power intrusted to them for the benefit of the 
poor and weak. St. Elphege died rather than extort his 
ransom from the poor tenants of the Church lands. 




152 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [April 21 



April 20. — ST. MARCELLINUS, Bishop. 

@T. Marcellinus was born in Africa, of a noble family ; 
accompanied by Vincent and Bomninus, he went over 
into Gaul, and there preached the Gospel, with great suc- 
cess, in the neighborhood of the Alps. He afterwards 
settled at Embrun, where he built a chapel in which he 
passed his nights in prayer, after laboring all the day in 
the exercise of his sacred calling. By his pious example as 
well as by his earnest words, he converted many of the 
heathens among whom he lived. He was afterwards made 
bishop of the people whom he had won over to Christ, but 
the date of his consecration is not positively known. Burn- 
ing with zeal for the glory of God, he sent Vincent and 
Domninus to preach the faith in those parts which he could 
not visit in person. He died at Embrun about the year 
374, and was there interred. St. Gregory of Tours, who 
speaks of Marcellinus in terms of highest praise, mentions 
many miracles as happening at his tomb. 

Reflection. — Though you may not be called upon to 
preach, at least endeavor to set a good example, remember- 
ing that deeds often speak louder than words. 

April 21. — ST. ANSELM, Archbishop. 

Hnselm was a native of Piedmont. When a boy of 
fifteen, being forbidden to enter religion, he for a 
while lost his fervor, left his home, and went to various 
schools in Prance. At length his vocation revived, and he 
became a monk at Bee in Normandy. The fame of his 
sanctity in this cloister led William Eufus, when danger- 
ously ill, to take him for his confessor, and to name him to 
the vacant see of Canterbury. Now began the strife of 
Anselm's life. With new health the king relapsed into his 
former sins, plundered the Church lands, scorned the arch- 
bishop's rebukes, and forbade him to go to Eome for the 
pallium. Anselm went, and returned only to enter into a 
more bitter strife with William's successor, Henry T. This 
sovereign claimed the right of investing prelates with the 



April 22] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



153 



ring and crozier, symbols of the spiritual jurisdiction which 
belongs to the Church alone. The worldly prelates did not 
scruple to call St. Anselm a traitor for his defence of the 
Pope's supremacy; on which the Saint rose, and with calm 
dignity exclaimed, " If any man pretends that I violate my 
faith to my king because I will not reject the authority of 
the Holy See of Eome, let him stand forth, and in the name 
of God I will answer him as I ought." No one took up the 
challenge; and to the disappointment of the king, the 
barons sided with the Saint, for they respected his courage, 
and saw that his cause was their own. Sooner than yield, 
the archbishop went again into exile, till at last the king 
was obliged to submit to the feeble but inflexible old man. 
In the midst of his harassing cares, St. Anselm found time 
for writings which have made him celebrated as the father 
of scholastic theology ; while in metaphysics and in science 
he had few equals. He is yet more famous for his devotion 
to our blessed Lady, whose Feast of the Immaculate Con- 
ception he was the first to establish in the West. He died 
in 1109. 

Reflection. — Whoever, like St. Anselm, contends for the 
Church's rights, is fighting on the side of God against the 
tyranny of Satan. 

April 22.— ST. SOTER, Pope, Martyr. 

/SiT. Soter was raised to the papacy upon the death of St. 
KHZ Anicetus, in 173. By the sweetness of his discourses 
he comforted all persons with the tenderness of a father, 
and assisted the indigent with liberal alms, especially those 
who suffered for the faith. He liberally extended his 
charities, according to the custom of his predecessors, to 
remote churches, particularly to that of Corinth, to which 
he addressed an excellent letter, as St. Dionysius of Corinth 
testifies in his letter of thanks, who adds that his letter was 
found worthy to be read for their edification on Sundays at 
their assemblies to celebrate the divine mysteries, together 
with the letter of St. Clement, pope. St. Soter vigorously 
opposed the heresy of Montanus, and governed the Church 
if to the year 177. 



154 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [April 22 



ST. LEONIDES, Martyr. 

he Emperor Severus, in the year 202, which was the 
tenth of his reign, raised a bloody persecution, which 
filled the whole empire with martyrs, but especially Egypt. 
The most illustrious of those who by their triumphs en- 
nobled and edified the city of Alexandria was Leonides, 
father of the great Origen. He was a Christian philos- 
opher, and excellently versed both in the profane and 
sacred sciences. He had seven sons, the eldest of whom 
was Origen, whom he brought up with abundance of care, 
returning God thanks for having blessed him with a son of 
such an excellent disposition for learning, and a very great 
zeal for piety. These qualifications endeared him greatly 
to his father, who, after his son was baptized, would come 
to his bedside while he was asleep, and, opening his bosom, 
kiss it respectfully, as being the temple of the Holy Ghost. 
When the persecution raged at Alexandria, under Lsetus, 
governor of Egypt, in the tenth year of Severus, Leonides 
was cast into prison. Origen, who was then only seven- 
teen years of age, burned with an incredible desire of 
martyrdom, and sought every opportunity of meeting with 
it. But his mother conjured him not to forsake her, and 
his ardor being redoubled at the sight of his father's chains, 
she was forced to lock up all his clothes to oblige him to 
stay at home. So, not being able to do any more, he wrote 
a letter to his father in very moving terms, strongly ex- 
horting him to look on the crown that was offered Jiim 
with courage and joy, adding this clause, " Take heed, sir, 
that for our sakes you do not change your mind." Leo- 
nides was accordingly beheaded for the faith in 202. His 
estates and goods being all confiscated, and seized for the 
emperor's use, his widow was left with seven children to 
maintain in the poorest condition imaginable; but Divine 
Providence was both her comfort and support. 




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155 



April 23. — ST. GEORGE, Martyr. 

/52[t. George was born in Cappadocia, at the close of 
TSUJ the third century, of Christian parents. In early 
youth he chose a soldier's life, and soon obtained the favor 
of Diocletian, who advanced him to the grade of tribune. 
When, however, the emperor began to persecute the Chris- 
tians, George rebuked him at once sternly and openly for 
his cruelty, and threw up his commission. He was in con- 
sequence subjected to a lengthened series of torments, and 
finally beheaded. There was something so inspiriting in 
the defiant cheerfulness of the young soldier, that every 
Christian felt a personal share in this triumph of Christian 
fortitude ; and as years rolled on St. George became a type 
of successful combat against evil, the slayer of the dragon, 
the darling theme of camp song and story, until " so thick 
a shade his very glory round him made" that his real 
lineaments became hard to trace. Even beyond the circle 
of Christendom he was held in honor, and invading Sara- 
cens taught themselves to except from desecration the 
image of him they hailed as the " White-horsed Knight." 
The devotion to St. George is one of the most ancient and 
widely spread in the Church. In the East, a church of 
St. George is ascribed to Constantine, and his name is 
invoked in the most ancient liturgies; whilst in the West, 
Malta, Barcelona, Valencia, Arragon, Genoa, and England 
have chosen him as their patron. 

Reflection. — "What shall I say of fortitude, without 
which neither wisdom nor justice is of any worth ? Forti- 
tude is not of the body, but is a constancy of soul; where- 
with we are conquerors in righteousness, patiently bear ail 
adversities, and in prosperity are not puffed up. This 
fortitude he lacks who is overcome by pride, anger, greed, 
drunkenness, and the like. Neither have they fortitude 
who when in adversity make shift to escape at their souls' 
expense ; wherefore the Lord saith, < Pear not those who 
kill the body, but cannot kill the soul/ In like manner 
those who are puffed up in prosperity and abandon them- 
selves to excessive joviality cannot be called strong. For 



156 



LIVES OF THE 8AINT8 [Apkil 24 



how can they be called strong who cannot hide and repress 
the heart's emotion? Fortitude is never conquered, or if 
conquered, is not fortitude." — St. Bruno. 

April 24.— ST. FIDELIS OF SIGMARINGEN. 

Eidelis was born at Sigmaringen in 1577, of noble 
parents. In his youth he frequently approached the 
sacraments, visited the sick and the poor, and spent more- 
over many hours before the altar. For a time he followed 
the legal profession, and was remarkable for his advocacy 
of the poor and his respectful language towards his op- 
ponents. Finding it difficult to become both a rich law- 
yer and a good Christian, Fidelis entered the Capuchin 
Order, and embraced a life of austerity and prayer. Hair 
shirts, iron-pointed girdles, and disciplines were penances 
too light for his fervor; and being filled with a desire of 
martyrdom, he rejoiced at being sent to Switzerland by the 
newly-founded Congregation of Propaganda, and braved 
every peril to rescue souls from the diabolical heresy of 
Calvin. When preaching at Sevis he was fired at by a 
Calvinist, but the fear of death could not deter him from 
proclaiming divine truth. After his sermon he was way- 
laid by a body of Protestants headed by a minister, who 
attacked him and tried to force him to embrace their so- 
called reform. But he said, " I came to refute your errors, 
not to embrace them; I will never renounce Catholic doc- 
trine, which is the truth of all ages, and I fear not death." 
On this they fell upon him with their poignards, and the 
first martyr of Propaganda went to receive his palm. 

Reflection. — We delight in decorating the altars of God 
with flowers, lights, and jewels, and it is right to do so; 
but if we wish to offer to God gifts of higher value, let us, 
in imitation of St. Fidelis, save the souls who but for us 
would be lost; for so we shall offer Him, as it were, the 
jewels of paradise. 



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157 



April 25.— ST. MARK, Evangelist 

T. Mark was converted to the Faith by the Prince of 
the Apostles, whom he afterwards accompanied to 
Eome, acting there as his secretary or interpreter. When 
St. Peter was writing his first epistle to the churches of 
Asia, he affectionately joins with his own salutation that 
of his faithful companion, whom he calls " my son Mark." 
The Eoman people entreated St. Mark to put in writing for 
them the substance of St. Peter's frequent discourses on 
Our Lord's life. This the Evangelist did under ihe eye 
and with the express sanction of the apostle, and every 
page of his brief but graphic gospel so bore the impress of 
St. Peter's character, that the Fathers used to name it 
<c Peter's Gospel." St. Mark was now sent to Egypt to 
found the Church of Alexandria. Here his disciples be- 
came the wonder of the world for their piety and asceti- 
cism, so that St. Jerome speaks of St. Mark as the father 
of the anchorites, who at a later time thronged the Egyp- 
tian deserts. Here, too, he set up the first Christian 
school, the fruitful mother of many illustrious doctors and 
bishops. After governing his see for many years, St. 
Mark was one day seized by the heathen, dragged by ropes 
over stones, and thrown into prison. On the morrow the 
torture was repeated, and having been consoled by a vision 
of angels and the voice of Jesus, St. Mark went to his re- 
ward. 

It is to St. Mark that we owe the many slight touches 
which often give such vivid coloring to the Gospel scenes, 
and help us to picture to ourselves the very gestures and 
looks of our blessed Lord. It is he alone who notes that in 
the temptation J esus was " with the beasts ; " that He slept 
in the boat " on a pillow; " that He " embraced" the little 
children. He alone preserves for us the commanding 
words " Peace, be still ! " by which the storm was quelled ; 
or even the very sounds of His voice, the "Ephpheta" 
and " Talitha cumi," by which the dumb were made to 
speak and the dead to rise. So, too, the "looking round 
about with anger," and the " sighing deeply," long treas- 
ured in the memory of the penitent apostle, who was him- 




158 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [April 26 



self converted by his Saviour's look, are here recorded by 
his faithful interpreter. 

Reflection. — Learn from St. Mark to keep the image of 
the Son of man ever before your mind, and to ponder every 
syllable which fell from His lips. 

April 26.— STS. CLETUS and MARCELLINUS, 
Popes, Martyrs. 

T. Cletus was the third Bishop of Koine, and suc- 
ceeded St. Linus, which circumstance alone shows 
his eminent virtue among the first disciples of St. Peter 
in the West. He sat twelve years, from 76 to 89. The 
canon of the Soman Mass, Bede, and other martyrologists, 
style him a martyr. He was buried near St. Linus, in 
the Vatican, and his relics still remain in that church. 

St. Marcellinus succeeded St. Caius in the bishopric of 
Kome in 296, about the time that Diocletian set himself up 
for a deity, and impiously claimed divine honors. In those 
stormy times of persecution Marcellinus acquired great 
glory. He sat in St. Peter's chair eight years, three months, 
and twenty-five days, dying in 304, a year after the cruel 
persecution broke out, in which he gained much honor. 
He has been styled a martyr, though his blood was not 
shed in the cause of religion. 

Reflection. — It is a fundamental maxim of the Chris- 
tian morality, and a truth which Christ has established in 
the clearest terms and in innumerable passages of the Gos- 
pel, that the cross or sufferings and mortification are the 
road to eternal bliss. They, therefore, who lead not here a 
crucified and mortified life are unworthy ever to possess 
the unspeakable joys of His kingdom. Our Lord Himself, 
our model and our head, walked in this path, and His great 
Apostle puts us in mind that He entered into bliss only by 
His blood and by the cross. 




Apbil 27] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



159 



April 27.— ST. ZITA, Virgin. 

aiTA lived for forty-eight years in the service of Fati- 
nelli, a citizen of Lucca. During this time she rose 
each morning, while the household were asleep, to hear 
Mass, and then toiled incessantly till night came, doing the 
work of others as well as her own. Once Zita, absorbed in 
prayer, remained in church past the usual hour of her 
bread-making. She hastened home, reproaching herself 
with neglect of duty, and found the bread made and ready 
for the oven. She never doubted that her mistress or one 
of her servants had kneaded it, and going to them, thanked 
them; but they were astonished. No human being had 
made the bread. A delicious perfume rose from it, for 
angels had made it during her prayer. For years her mas- 
ter and mistress treated her as a mere drudge, while her 
fellow-servants, resenting her diligence as a reproach to 
themselves, insulted and struck her. Zita united these 
sufferings with those of Christ her Lord, never changing 
the sweet tone of her voice, nor forgetting her gentle and 
quiet ways. At length Fatinelli, seeing the success which 
attended her undertakings, gave her charge of his children 
and of the household. She dreaded this dignity more than 
the worst humiliation, but scrupulously fulfilled her trust. 
By her holy economy her master's goods were multiplied, 
while the poor were fed at his door. Gradually her unfail- 
ing patience conquered the jealousy of her fellow-servants, 
and she became their advocate with their hot-tempered 
master, who dared not give way to his anger before Zita. 
In the end her prayer and toil sanctified the whole house, 
and drew down upon it the benediction of Heaven. She 
died in 1272, and in the moment of her death a bright 
star appearing above her attic showed that she had gained 
eternal rest. 

Reflection. — "What must I do to be saved?" said a 
certain one in fear of damnation. " Work and pray, pray 
and work," a voice replied, "and thou shalt be saved." 
The whole life of St. Zita teaches us this truth. 



160 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [April 28 



April 28. — ST. PAUL OF THE CROSS. 

he eighty-one years of this Saint's life were modelled 
on the Passion of Jesus Christ. In his childhood, 
when praying in church, a heavy bench fell on his foot, 
but the boy took no notice of the bleeding wound, and 
spoke of it as " a rose sent from God/' A few years later, 
the vision of a scourge with " love written on its lashes 
assured him that his thirst for penance would be satisfied. 
In the hope of dying for the faith, he enlisted in a crusade 
against the Turks ; but a voice from the Tabernacle warned 
him that he was to serve Christ alone, and that he should 
found a congregation in His honor. At the command of 
his bishop he began while a layman to preach the Passion, 
and a series of crosses tried the reality of his vocation. 
All his first companions, save his brother, deserted him; 
the Sovereign Pontiff refused him an audience ; and it was 
only after a delay of seventeen years that the Papal appro- 
bation was obtained, and the first house of the Passionists 
was opened on Monte Argentario, the spot which Our Lady 
had pointed out. St. Paul chose as the badge of his Order 
a heart with three nails, in memory of the sufferings of 
Jesus, but for himself he invented a more secret and dura- 
ble sign. Moved by the same holy impulse as Blessed 
Henry Suso, St. Jane Prances, and other Saints, he branded 
on his side the Holy Name, and its characters were found 
there after death. His heart beat with a supernatural pal- 
pitation, which was especially vehement on Fridays, and 
the heat at times was so intense as to scorch his shirt in the 
region of his heart. Through fifty years of incessant bodily 
pain, and amidst all his trials, Paul read the love of Jesus 
everywhere, and would cry out to the flowers and grass, 
66 Oh ! be quiet, be quiet/' as if they were reproaching him 
with ingratitude. He died whilst the Passion was being 
read to him, and so passed with Jesus from the cross to 
glory. 




April 29] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



161 



ST. VITALIS, Martyr. 

t. Vitalis was a citizen of Milan, and is said to have 
been the father of Sts. Gervasius and Protasius. The 
divine providence conducted him to Eavenna, where he saw 
a Christian named TJrsicinus, who was condemned to lose 
his head for his faith, standing aghast at the sight of 
death, and seeming ready to yield. Vitalis was extremely 
moved at this spectacle. He knew his double obligation of 
preferring the glory of God and the eternal salvation of his 
neighbor to his own corporal life : he therefore boldly and 
successfully encouraged TJrsicinus to triumph over death, 
and after his martyrdom carried off his body, and re- 
spectfully interred it. The judge, whose name was 
Paulinus, being informed of this, caused Vitalis to be 
apprehended, stretched on the rack, and, after other tor- 
ments, to be buried alive in a place called the Palm-tree, 
in Eavenna. His wife, Valeria, returning from Eavenna 
to Milan, was beaten to death by peasants, because she 
refused to join them in an idolatrous festival and riot. 

Reflection. — We are not all called to the sacrifice of 
martyrdom ; but we are all bound to make our lives a con- 
tinued sacrifice of ourselves to God, and to perform every 
action in this perfect spirit of sacrifice. Thus we shall 
both live and die to God, perfectly resigned to His holy 
will in all His appointments. 

April 29. — ST. PETER, Martyr. 

In 1205 the glorious martyr Peter was born at Verona 
of heretical parents. He went to a Catholic school, 
and his Manichean uncle asked what he learnt. " The 
Creed/ 5 answered Peter; "I believe in God, Creator of 
heaven and earth." 'No persuasion could shake his faith, 
and at fifteen he received the habit from St. Dominic him- 
self at Bologna. After ordination, he preached to the 
heretics of Lombardy, and converted multitudes. St. 
Peter was constantly obliged to dispute with heretics, and 
although he was able to confound them, still the devil took 




162 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [April 29 



occasion thence to tempt him once against faith. Instantly 
he had recourse to praj^er before an image of Our Lady, 
and heard a voice saying to him the words of Jesus Christ 
in the Gospel, "I have prayed for thee, Peter, that thy 
faith may not fail ; and thou shalt confirm thy brethren in 
it." Once when exhorting a vast crowd under the burning 
sun, the heretics defied him to procure shade. He prayed, 
and a cloud overshadowed the audience. In spite of his 
sanctity, he was foully slandered and even punished for 
immorality. He submitted humbly, but complained in 
prayer to J esus crucified. The crucifix spoke, " And I, 
Peter, what did I do ? " Every day, as he elevated at Mass 
the precious blood, he prayed, " Grant, Lord, that I may 
die for Thee, Who for me didst die." His prayer was an- 
swered. The heretics, confounded by him, sought his life. 
Two of them attacked him as he was returning to Milan, 
and struck his head with an axe. St. Peter fell, com- 
mended himself to God, dipped his finger in his own blood, 
and wrote on the ground, "I believe in God, Creator of 
heaven and earth." They then stabbed him in the side, 
and he received his crown. 

Reflection. — Prom a boy St. Peter boldly professed his 
faith among heretics. He spent his life in preaching the 
faith to heretics, and received the glorious and long-de- 
sired crown of martyrdom from heretics. We are sur- 
rounded by heretics. Are we courageous, firm, zealous, 
full of prayer for their conversion, unflinching in our pro- 
fession of faith? 

ST. HUGH, Abbot of Cluny. 

t. Hugh was a prince related to the sovereign house 
of the dukes of Burgundy, and had his education 
under the tuition of his pious mother, and under the care 
of Hugh, Bishop of Auxerre, his great-uncle. Prom his 
infancy he was exceedingly given to prayer and meditation, 
and his life was remarkably innocent and holy. One day, 
hearing an account of the wonderful sanctity of the monks 
of Cluny, under St. Odilo, he was so moved that he set out 
that moment, and going thither, humbly begged the monas- 




Apbil 30] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



163 



tic habit. After a rigid novitiate, he made his profession 
in 1039, being sixteen years old. His extraordinary virtue, 
especially his admirable humility, obedience, charity, sweet- 
ness, prudence, and zeal, gained him the respect of the 
whole community; and upon the death of St. Odilo, in 
1049, though only twenty-five years old, he succeeded to 
the government of that great abbey, which he held sixty- 
two years. He received to the religious profession Hugh, 
Duke of Burgundy, and died on the twenty-ninth of April, 
in 1109, aged eighty-five. He was canonized twelve years 
after his death by Pope Calixtus II. 



April 30.— ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA. 

Catherine, the daughter of a humble tradesman, was 
raised up to be the guide and guardian of the Church 
in one of the darkest periods of its history, the fourteenth 
century. As a child, prayer was her delight. She would 
say the "Hail Mary" on each step as she mounted the 
stairs, and was granted in reward a vision of Christ in 
glory. When but seven years old, she made a vow of vir- 
ginity, and afterwards endured bitter persecution for re- 
fusing to marry. Our Lord gave her His Heart in 
exchange for her own, communicated her with His own 
hands, and stamped on her body the print of His wounds. 
At the age of fifteen she entered the Third Order of St. 
Dominic, but continued to reside in her father's shop, 
where she united a life of active charity with the prayer 
of a contemplative Saint. From this obscure home the 
seraphic virgin was summoned to defend the Church's 
cause. Armed with Papal authority, and accompanied by 
three confessors, she travelled through Italy, reducing re- 
bellious cities to the obedience of the Holy See, and win- 
ning hardened souls to God. In the face well-nigh of the 
whole world she sought out Gregory XI. at Avignon, 
brought him back to Eome, and by her letters to the kings 
and queens of Europe made good the Papal cause. She 
was the counsellor of Urban VI., and sternly rebuked the 
disloyal cardinals who had part in electing an antipope. 
Long had the holy virgin foretold the terrible schism which 



164 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [May l 



began ere she died. Day and night she wept and prayed 
for unity and peace. But the devil excited the Soman 
people against the Pope, so that some sought the life of 
Christ's Vicar. With intense earnestness did St. Catherine 
beg Our Lord to prevent this enormous crime. In spirit 
she saw the whole city full of demons tempting the people 
to resist and even slay the Pope. The seditious temper 
was subdued by Catherine's prayers; but the devils vented 
their malice by scourging the Saint herself, who gladly 
endured all for God and His Church. She died at Some, 
in 1380, at the age of thirty-three. 

Reflection. — The seraphic St. Catherine willingly sacri- 
ficed the delights of contemplation to labor for the Church 
and the Apostolic See. How deeply do the troubles of the 
Church and the consequent loss of souls afflict us? How 
often do we pray for the Church and the Pope ? 

I 

May i. — STS. PHILIP and JAMES, Apostles. 

• 

Ohilip was one of the first chosen disciples of Christ. 
On the way from Judea to Galilee Our Lord found 
Philip, and said, " Follow Me." Philip straightway 
obeyed; and then in his zeal and charity sought to win 
Nathaniel also, saying, "We have found Him of Whom 
Moses and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth ; 99 
and when Nathaniel in wonder asked, u Can any good 
come out of Nazareth ? 99 Philip simply answered, " Come 
and see," and brought him to Jesus. Another character- 
istic saying of this apostle is preserved for us by St. John. 
Christ in His last discourse had spoken of His Father ; and 
Philip exclaimed, in the fervor of his thirst for God, ,11 
" Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough." 

St. James the Less, the author of an inspired epistle, 
was also one of the Twelve. St. Paul tells us that he was 
favored by a special apparition of Christ after the Kesur- 
rection. On the dispersion of the apostles among the 
nations, St. James was left as Bishop of Jerusalem; and 
even the Jews held in such high veneration his purity, 
mortification, and prayer, that they named him the Just. | 
The earliest of Church historians has handed down many 

I 



May 2] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



165 



traditions of St. J ames's sanctity. He was always a virgin, 
says Hegesippus, and consecrated to God. He drank no 
wine, wore no sandals on his feet, and but a single gar- 
ment on his body. He prostrated, himself so much in 
prayer that the skin of his knees was hardened like a 
carneFs hoof. The Jews, it is said, used out of respect to 
touch the hem of his garment. He was indeed a living 
proof of his own words, " The wisdom that is from above 
first indeed is chaste, then peaceable, modest, full of mercy 
and good fruits." He sat beside St. Peter and St. Paul at 
the Council of Jerusalem; and. when St. Paul at a later 
time escaped the fury of the Jews by appealing to Caesar, 
the people took vengeance on James, and crying, " The 
just one hath erred," stoned him to death. 

Reflection. — The Church commemorates on the same 
day Sts. Philip and James, whose bodies lie side by side at 
Eome. They represent to us two aspects of Christian holi- 
ness. The first preaches faith, the second works ; the one 
holy aspirations, the other purity of heart. 

May 2. — ST. ATHANASIUS, Bishop. 

Hthanasius was born in Egypt towards the end of 
the third century, and was from his youth pious, 
learned, and deeply versed in the sacred writings, as be- 
fitted one whom Gk)d had chosen to be the champion and 
defender of His Church against the Arian heresy. Though 
only a deacon, he was chosen by his bishop to go with him 
to the Council of Mcasa, in 325, and attracted the atten- 
tion of all by the learning and ability with which he 
defended the faith. A few months later, he became Pa- 
triarch of Alexandria, and for forty-six years he bore, often 
well-nigh alone, the whole brunt of the Arian assault. On 
the refusal of the Saint to restore Arius to Catholic com- 
munion, the emperor ordered the Patriarch of Constanti- 
nople to do so. The wretched heresiarch took an oath 
that he had always believed as the Church believes; and 
the patriarch, after vainly using every effort to move the 
emperor, had recourse to fasting and prayer, that God 
would avert from the Church the frightful sacrilege. The 



166 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[May 3 



day came for the solemn entrance of Arius into the great 
church of Sancta Sophia. The heresiareh and his party set 
out glad and in triumph. But before he reached the 
church, death smote him swiftly and awfully, and the 
dreaded sacrilege was averted. St. Athanasius stood un- 
moved against four Eoman emperors; was banished five 
times; was the butt of every insult, calumny, and wrong 
the Arians could devise, and lived in constant peril of 
death. Though firm as adamant in defence of the Faith, 
he was meek and humble, pleasant and winning in con- 
verse, beloved by his flock, unwearied in labors, in prayer, 
in mortifications, and in zeal for souls. In the year 373 
his stormy life closed in peace, rather that his people would 
have it so than that his enemies were weary of persecuting 
him. He left to the Church the whole and ancient Faith, 
defended and explained in writings rich in thought and 
learning, clear, keen, and stately in expression. He is 
honored as one of the greatest of the Doctors of the Church. 

Reflection. — The Catholic Faith, says St. Augustine, is 
more precious far than all the riches and treasures of 
earth; more glorious and greater than all its honors, all 
its possessions. This it is which saves sinners, gives light 
to the blind, restores penitents, perfects the just, and is 
the crown of martyrs. 

May 3— THE DISCOVERY OF THE HOLY 
CROSS. 

od having restored peace to His Church, by exalting 
Constantine the Great to the imperial throne, that 
pious prince, who had triumphed over his enemies by the 
miraculous power of the cross, was very desirous of ex- 
pressing his veneration for the holy places which had been 
honored and sanctified by the presence and sufferings of 
our blessed Eedeemer on earth, and accordingly resolved 
to build a magnificent church in the city of Jerusalem. St. 
Helen, the emperor's mother, desiring to visit the holy 
places there, undertook a journey into Palestine in 326, 
though at that time near eighty years of age ; and on her 
arrival at Jerusalem was inspired with a great desire to 




May 3] 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



167 



find the identical cross on which Christ had suffered for 
our sins. But there was no mark or tradition, even amongst 
the Christians, to show where it lay. The heathens, out of 
an aversion to Christianity, had done what they could to 
conceal the place where Our Saviour was buried, by heap- 
ing on it a great quantity of stones and rubbish, and 
building on it a temple to Venus. They had, moreover, 
erected a statue of Jupiter in the place where Our Saviour 
rose from the dead. Helen, to carry out her pious design, 
consulted every one at Jerusalem and near it whom she 
thought likely to assist her in finding out the cross; and 
was credibly informed that, if she could find out the 
sepulchre, she would likewise find the instruments of the 
punishment ; it being the custom among the J ew T s to make 
a hole near the place where the body of a criminal was 
buried, and to throw into it whatever belonged to his 
execution. The pious empress, therefore, ordered the pro- 
fane buildings to be pulled down, the statues to be broken 
in pieces, and the rubbish to be removed; and, upon digging 
to a great depth, the holy sepulchre, and near it three 
crosses, also the nails which had pierced Our Saviour s 
body, and the title which had been fixed to His cross, were 
found. By this discovery they knew that one of the three 
crosses was that which they were in quest of, and that the 
others belonged to the two malefactors between whom Our 
Saviour had been crucified. But, as the title was found 
separate from the cross, it was difficult to distinguish which 
of the three crosses was that on which our divine Kedeemer 
consummated His sacrifice for the salvation of the world. 
In this perplexity the holy Bishop Macarius, knowing that 
one of the principal ladies of the city lay extremely ill, 
suggested to the empress to cause the three crosses to be 
carried to the sick person, not doubting but God. would dis- 
cover which was the cross they sought for. This being 
done, St. Macarius prayed that God would have regard to 
their faith, and, after his prayer, applied the crosses singly 
to the patient, who was immediately and perfectly recov- 
ered by the touch of one of the three crosses, the other two 
having been tried without effect St. Helen, full of joy at 
having found the treasure which she had so earnestly sought 
and so highly esteemed, built a church on the spot, and 



168 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[May 4 



lodged the cross there with great veneration, having pro- 
vided an extraordinarily rich case for it. She afterwards 
carried part of it to the Emperor Constantine, then at Con- 
stantinople, who received it with great veneration; another 
part she sent or rather carried to Rome, to be placed in the 
church which she had built there, called Of the Holy Cross 
of Jerusalem, where it remains to this day. The title was 
sent by St. Helen to the same church, and placed on the top 
of an arch, where it was found in a case of lead in 1492. 
The inscription in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin is in red 
letters, and the wood was whitened. Thus it was in 1492 ; 
but these colors are since faded. Also the words J esus and 
Judceorum are eaten away. The board is nine, but must 
have been twelve, inches long. The main part of the cross 
St. Helen inclosed in a silver shrine, and committed it to 
the care of St. Macarius, that it might be delivered down to 
posterity, as an object of veneration. It was accordingly 
kept with singular care and respect in the magnificent 
church which she and her son built in Jerusalem. St. 
Paulinus relates that, though chips were almost daily cut 
off from it and given to devout persons, yet the sacred 
wood suffered thereby no diminution. It is affirmed by St. 
Cyril of Jerusalem, twenty-five years after the discovery, 
that pieces of the cross were spread all over the earth; he 
compares this wonder to the miraculous feeding of five 
thousand men, as recorded in the Gospel. The discovery 
of the cross must have happened about the month of May, 
or early in the spring; for St. Helen went the same year 
to Constantinople, and from thence to Eome, where she 
died in the arms of her son on the 18th of August, 326. 

Reflection. — In every pious undertaking the beginning 
merely does not suffice. " Whoso shall persevere unto the 
end, he shall be saved." 

May 4. — ST. MONICA. 

onica, the mother of St. Augustine, was born in 332. 
After a girlhood of singular innocence and piety, she 
was given in marriage to Patritius, a pagan. She at once 
devoted herself to his conversion, praying for him always, 




May 5] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



169 



and winning his reverence and love by the holiness of 
her life and her affectionate forbearance. She was re- 
warded by seeing him baptized a year before his death. 
When her son Augustine went astray in faith and man- 
ners her prayers and tears were incessant. She was once 
very urgent with a learned bishop that he would talk to 
her son in order to bring him to a better mind, but he de- 
clined, despairing of success with one at once so able and 
so headstrong. However, on witnessing her prayers and 
tears, he bade her be of good courage ; for it might not be 
that the child of those tears should perish. By going to 
Italy, Augustine could for a time free himself from his 
mother's importunities; but he could not escape from her 
prayers, which encompassed him like the providence of 
God. She followed him to Italy, and there by his marvel- 
lous conversion her sorrow was turned into joy. At Ostia, 
on their homeward journey, as Augustine and his mother 
sat at a window conversing of the life of the blessed, she 
turned to him and said, " Son, there is nothing now I care 
for in this life. What I shall now do or why I am here, I 
know not. The one reason I had for wishing to linger in 
this life a little longer was that I might see you a Catholic 
Christian before I died. This has God granted me supera- 
bundantly in seeing you reject earthly happiness to become 
His servant. What do I here?" A few days afterwards 
she had an attack of fever, and died in the year 387. 

Reflection. — It is impossible to set any bounds to what 
persevering prayer may do. It gives man a share in the 
Divine Omnipotence. St. Augustine's soul lay bound in 
the chains of heresy and impurity, both of which had by 
long habit grown inveterate. They were broken by his 
mother's prayers. 

May 5. — ST. PIUS V. 

a Dominican" friar from his fifteenth year, Michael 
Ghislieri, as a simple religious, as inquisitor, as 
bishop, and as cardinal, was famous for his intrepid defence 
of the Church's faith and discipline, and for the spotless 
purity of his own life. His first care as Pope was to reform 



170 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[May 6 



the Koman court and capital by the strict example of his 
household and the severe punishment of all offenders. He 
next endeavored to obtain from the Catholic powers the 
recognition of the Tridentine decrees, two of which he 
urgently enforced — the residence of bishops, and the estab- 
lishment of diocesan seminaries. He revised the Missal 
and Breviary, and reformed the ecclesiastical music. Nor 
was he less active in protecting the Church without. We 
see him at the same time supporting the Catholic King of 
France against the Huguenot rebels, encouraging Mary 
Queen of Scots, in the bitterness of her captivity, and ex- 
communicating her rival the usurper Elizabeth, when the 
best blood of England had flowed upon the scaffold, and 
the measure of her crimes was full. But it was at Lepanto 
that the Saint's power was most manifest; there, in Octo- 
ber, 1571, by the holy league which he had formed, but 
still more by his prayers to the great Mother of God, the 
aged Pontiff crushed the Ottoman forces, and saved Chris- 
tendom from the Turk. Six months later, St. Pius died, 
having reigned but six years. St. Pius was accustomed to 
kiss the feet of his crucifix on leaving or entering his room. 
One day the feet moved away from his lips. Sorrow filled 
his heart, and he made acts of contrition, fearing that he 
must have committed some secret offence, but still he could 
not kiss the feet. It was afterwards found that they had 
been poisoned by an enemy. 

Reflection. — "Thy cross, 0 Lord, is the source of all 
blessings, the cause of all graces: by it the faithful find 
strength in weakness, glory in shame, life in death." — St. 
Leo. 

May 6. — ST. JOHN BEFORE THE LATIN GATE. 

XK the year 95, St. John, who was the only surviving 
apostle, and governed all the churches of Asia, was 
apprehended at Ephesus, and sent prisoner to Rome. The 
Emperor Domitian did not relent at the sight of the vener- 
able old man, but condemned him to be east into a caldron 
of boiling oil. The martyr doubtless heard, with great joy, 
this barbarous sentence; the most cruel torments seemed 



May 7] 



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171 



to him light and most agreeable, because they would, he 
hoped, unite him forever to his divine Master and Saviour. 
But God accepted his will and crowned his desire; He 
conferred on him the honor and merit of martyrdom, but 
suspended the operation of the fire, as He had formerly 
preserved the three children from hurt in the Babylonian 
furnace. The seething oil was changed in his regard into 
an invigorating bath, and the Saint came out more re- 
freshed than when he had entered the caldron. Domitian 
saw this miracle without drawing from it the least advan- 
tage, but remained hardened in his iniquity. However, he 
contented himself after this with banishing the holy apostle 
into the little island of Patmos. St. John returned to 
Ephesus, in the reign of KTerva, who by mildness, during 
his short reign of one year and four months, labored to 
restore the faded lustre of the Eoman Empire. This 
glorious triumph of St. John happened without the gate 
of Some called Latina. A church which since has always 
borne this title was consecrated in the same place in 
memory of this miracle, under the first Christian em- 
perors. 

Reflection. — St. John suffered above the other Saints a 
martyrdom of love, being a martyr, and more than a 
martyr, at the foot of the cross of his divine Master. All 
his sufferings were by love and compassion imprinted in 
his soul, and thus shared by him. 0 singular happiness, 
to have stood under the cross of Christ ! 0 extraordinary 
privilege, to have suffered martyrdom in the person of 
Jesus, and been eye-witness of all He did or endured ! If 
nature revolt within us against suffering, let us call to 
mind those words of the divine Master : u Thou knowest 
not now wherefore ; but thou shalt know hereafter." 

May 7.— ST. STANISLAS, Bishop, Martyr. 

tanislas was born in answer to prayer when his par- 
ents were advanced in age. Out of gratitude they 
educated him for the Church, and from a holy priest he 
became in time Bishop of Cracow. Boleslas II. was then 
King of Poland — a prince of good disposition, but spoilt 




172 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[May 8 



by a long course of victory and success. After many acts 
of lust and cruelty, he outraged the whole kingdom by 
carrying off the wife of one of his nobles. Against this 
pubiic scandal the chaste and gentle bishop alone raised 
his voice. Having commended the matter to God, he went 
down to the palace and openly rebuked the king for his 
crime against God and his subjects, and threatened to ex- 
communicate him if he persisted in his sin. To slander 
the Saint's character, Boleslas suborned the nephews of one 
Paul, lately dead, to swear that their uncle had never been 
paid for land bought .by the bishop for the Church. The 
Saint stood fearlessly before the king's tribunal, though all 
his witnesses forsook him, and guaranteed to bring the 
dead man to witness for him within three days. On the 
third day, after many prayers and tears, he raised Paul to 
life, and led him in his grave-clothes before the king. 
Boleslas made a show for a while of a better life. Soon, 
however, he relapsed into the most scandalous excesses, and 
the bishop, finding all remonstrance useless, pronounced 
the sentence of excommunication. In defiance of the cen- 
sure, on May 8, 1079, the king went down to a chapel where 
the bishop himself was saying Mass, and sent in three com- 
panies of soldiers to dispatch him at the altar. Each in 
turn came out, saying they had been scared by a light from 
heaven. Then the king rushed in and slew the Saint at 
the altar with his own hand. 

Reflection. — The safest correction of vice is a blameless 
life. Yet there are times when silence would make us 
answerable for the sins of others. At such times let us, 
in the name of God, rebuke the offender without fear. 

May 8.— THE APPARITION OF ST. MICHAEL 
THE ARCHANGEL. 

XT is manifest, from the Holy Scriptures, that God is 
pleased to make frequent use of the ministry of the 
heavenly spirits in the dispensations of His providence in 
this world, and especially towards man. Hence the name 
of Angel (which is not properly a denomination of nature, 
but office) has been appropriated to them. The angels are 



May 8] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



173 



all pure spirits; they are, by a property of their nature, 
immortal, as every spirit is. They have the power of 
moving or conveying themselves from place to place, and 
such is their activity that it is not easy for us to conceive 
it. Among the holy archangels, there are particularly 
distinguished in Holy Writ Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and 
Eaphael. St. Michael, whom the Church honors this day, 
was the prince of the faithful angels who opposed Lucifer 
and his associates in their revolt against God. As the 
devil is the sworn enemy of God's holy Church, St. Michael 
is its special protector against his assaults and stratagems. 
This holy archangel has ever been honored in the Christian 
Church as her guardian under God, and as the protector 
of the faithful; for God is pleased to employ the zeal and 
charity of the good angels and their leader against the 
malice of the devil. To thank His adorable goodness for 
this benefit of His merciful providence is this festival in- 
stituted by the Church in honor of the good angels, in 
which devotion she has been encouraged by several appari- 
tions of this glorious archangel. Among others, it is re- 
corded that St. Michael, in a vision, admonished the Bishop 
of .Siponto to build a church in his honor on Mount Gar- 
gano, near Manfredonia, in the kingdom of Naples. When 
the Emperor Otho III. had, contrary to his word, put to 
death, for rebellion, Crescentius, a Boman senator, being 
touched with remorse he cast himself at the feet of St. 
Eomuald, who, in satisfaction for his crime, enjoined him 
to walk barefoot, on a penitential pilgrimage, to St. 
Michael's on Mount Gargano, which penance he performed 
in 1002. It is mentioned in particular of this special 
guardian and protector of the Church that, in the perse- 
cution of Antichrist, he will powerfully stand up in her 
defence : " At that time shall Michael rise up, the great 
prince, who standeth for the children of thy people." 

Reflection. — St. Michael is not only the protector of the 
Church, but of every faithful soul. He defeated the devil 
by humility: we are enlisted in the same warfare. His 
arms were humility and ardent love of God: the same 
must be our weapons. We ought to regard this archangel 
as our leader under God; and, courageously resisting the 



174 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [May 9 



devil in all his assaults, to cry out, Who can be compared 
to God? 

May 9.— ST. GREGORY NAZIANZEN. 

regory was born of saintly parents, and was the 
chosen friend of St. Basil. They studied together at 
Athens, turned at the same time from the fairest worldly 
prospects, and for some years lived together in seclusion, 
self-discipline, and toil. Gregory was raised, almost by 
force, to the priesthood; and was in time made Bishop of 
ISTazianzum by St. Basil, who had become Archbishop of 
Csesarea. When he was fifty years old, he was chosen, for 
his rare gifts and his conciliatory disposition, to be Patri- 
arch of Constantinople, then distracted and laid waste by 
Arian and other heretics. In that city he labored with 
wonderful success. The Arians were so irritated at the 
decay of their heresy that they pursued the Saint with out- 
rage, calumny, and violence, and at length resolved to take 
away his life. For this purpose they chose a resolute young 
man, who readily undertook the sacrilegious commission. 
But God did not allow him to carry it out. He was 
touched with remorse, and cast himself at the Saint's feet, 
avowing his sinful intent. St. Gregory at once forgave 
him, treated him with all kindness, and received him 
amongst his friends, to the wonder and edification of the 
whole citjr, and to the confusion of the heretics, whose 
crime had served only as a foil to the virtue of the Saint. 
St. Jerome boasts that he had sat at his feet, and calls him 
his master and his catechist in Holy Scripture. But his 
lowliness, his austerities, the insignificance of his person, 
and above all his very success, drew down on him the 
hatred of the enemies of the Faith. He was persecuted by 
the magistrates, stoned by the rabble, and thwarted and 
deserted even by his brother bishops. During the second 
General Council he resigned his see, hoping thus to restore 
peace to the tormented city, and retired to his native town, 
where he died in 390. He was a graceful poet, a preacher 
at once eloquent and solid ; and as a champion of the Faith 
so well equipped, so strenuous, and so exact, that he is 
called St. Gregory the Theologian. 




May 10] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



175 



Reflection. — " We must overcome our enemies/' said St. 
Gregory, u by gentleness ; win them over by forbearance. 
Let them be punished by their own conscience, not by our 
wrath. Let us not at once wither the fig-tree, from which 
a more skilful gardener may yet entice fruit/' 



May 10.— ST. ANTONINUS, Bishop. 

jr f ntoninus, or Little Antony, as he was called from his 
S—l small stature, was born at Florence in 1389. After 
a childhood of singular holiness, he begged to be admitted 
into the Dominican house at Fiesole; but the Superior, to 
test his sincerity and perseverance, told him he must first 
learn by heart the book of the Decretals, containing several 
hundred pages. This apparently impossible task was ac- 
complished within twelve months ; and Antoninus received 
the coveted habit in his sixteenth year. While still very 
young, he filled several important posts of his Order, and 
was consulted on questions of difficulty by the most learned 
men of his day; being known, for his wonderful prudence, 
as " the Counsellor." He wrote several works on theology 
and history, and sat as Papal Theologian at the Council of 
Florence. In 1446 he was compelled to accept the arch- 
bishopric of that city ; and in this dignity earned for him- 
self the title of " the Father of the Poor/' for all he had 
was at their disposal. St. Antoninus never refused an alms 
which was asked in the name of God. When he had no 
money, he gave his clothes, shoes, or furniture. One day, 
being sent by the Florentines to the Pope, as he approached 
Borne a beggar came up to him almost naked, and asked 
him for an alms for Christ's sake. Outdoing St. Martin, 
Antoninus gave him his whole cloak. When he entered the 
city, another was given him; by whom he knew not. His 
household consisted of only six persons; his palace con- 
tained no plate or costly furniture, and was often nearly 
destitute of the necessaries of life. His one mule was fre- 
quently sold for the relief of the poor, when it would be 
bought back for him by some wealthy citizen. He died 
embracing the crucifix, May 2d, 1459, often repeating the 
words, " To serve God is to reign." 



176 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[May 11 



Reflection. — " Alms-deeds," says St. Augustine, "com- 
prise every kind of service rendered to our neighbor who 
needs such assistance. He who supports a lame man 
bestows an alms on him with his feet; he who guides a 
blind man does him a charity with his eyes; he who car- 
ries an invalid or an old man upon his shoulders imparts 
to him an alms of his strength. Hence none are so poor 
but they may bestow an alms on the wealthiest man in the 
world." 



May xi. — ST. MAMMERTUS, Archbishop. 

^SSfT. Mammertus, Archbishop of Vienne in Dauphine, 
TZJ was a prelate renowned for his sanctity, learning, 
and miracles. He instituted in his diocese the fasts and 
supplications called the Rogations, on the following occa- 
sions. Almighty God, to punish the sins of the people, 
visited them with wars and other public calamities, and 
awaked them from their spiritual lethargy by the terrors of 
earthquakes, fires, and ravenous wild beasts, which last 
were sometimes seen in the very market-place of cities. 
These evils the impious ascribed to blind chance; but re- 
ligious and prudent persons considered them as tokens of 
the divine anger, which threatened their entire destruction. 
Amidst these scourges, St. Mammertus received a token of 
the divine mercy. A terrible fire happened in the city of 
Vienne, which baffled the efforts of men ; but by the prayers 
of the good bishop the fire on a sudden went out. This 
miracle strongly affected the minds of the people. The 
holy prelate took this opportunity to make them sensible 
of the necessity and efficacy of devout prayer, and formed 
a pious design of instituting an annual fast and supplica- 
tion of three days, in which all the faithful should join, 
with sincere compunction of heart, to appease the divine 
indignation by fasting, prayer, tears, and the confession of 
sins. The Church of Auvergne, of which St. Sidonius was 
bishop, adopted this pious institution before the year 475, 
and it became in a very short time a universal practice. 
St. Mammertus died about the year 477. 



May 12] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



Reflection. — " Know ye that the Lord will hear your 
prayers, if you continue with perseverance in fastings and 
prayers in the sight of the Lord" (Judith iv. 11). 



May 12.— ST. EPIPHANIUS, Archbishop. 

T. Epiphanius was born about the year 310, in Pales- 
tine. In his youth he began the study of the Holy 
Scriptures, embraced a monastic life, and went into Egypt 
to perfect himself in the exercises of that state, in the 
deserts of that country. He returned to Palestine about 
the year 333, and built a monastery near the place of his 
birth. His labors in the exercise of virtue seemed to some 
to surpass his strength; but his apology always was: " God 
gives not the kingdom of heaven but on condition that 
we labor ; and all we can do bears no proportion to such a 
crown." To his corporal austerities he added an indefati- 
gable application to prayer and study. Most books then 
in vogue passed through his hands; and he improved 
himself very much in learning by his travels into many 
parts. 

Although the skilful director of many others, St. Epi- 
phanius took the great St. Hilarion as his master in a 
spiritual life, and enjoyed the happiness of his direction 
and intimate acquaintance from the year 333 to 356. The 
reputation of his virtue made St. Epiphanius known to 
distant countries, and about the year 367 he was chosen 
Bishop of Salamis in Cyprus. But he still wore the mo- 
nastic habit, and continued to govern his monastery in 
Palestine, which he visited from time to time. He some- 
times relaxed his austerities in favor of hospitality, pre- 
ferring charity to abstinence. No one surpassed him in 
tenderness and charity to the poor. The veneration which 
all men had for his sanctity exempted him from the per- 
secution of the Arian Emperor Valens. In 376 he under- 
took a journey to Antioch in the hope of converting Vitalis, 
the Apollinarist bishop; and in 382 he accompanied St. 
Paulinus from that city to Eome, where they lodged at the 
house of St. Paula; our Saint in return entertained her 
afterward ten days in Cyprus in 385. The very name of 




178 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [May 13 



an error in faith, or the shadow of danger of evil, affrighted 
him, and the Saint fell into some mistakes on certain occa- 
sions, which proceeded from zeal and simplicity. He was 
on his way back to Salamis, after a short absence, when he 
died in 403, having been bishop thirty-six years. 

Reflection. — " In this is charity : not as though we had 
loved God, but because He hath first loved us." 

May 13. — ST. JOHN THE SILENT. 

ohn was born of a noble family at Mcopolis, in Ar- 
menia, in the year 454 ; but he derived from the virtue 
of his parents a much more illustrious nobility than that of 
their pedigree. After their death, he built at Nicopolis a 
church in honor of the Blessed Virgin, as also a monastery, 
in which, with ten fervent companions, he shut himself up 
when only eighteen years of age, with a view of making 
the salvation and most perfect sanctification of his soul his 
only and earnest pursuit. Not only to shun the danger of 
sin by the tongue, but also out of sincere humility and con- 
tempt of himself, and the love of interior recollection and 
prayer, he very seldom spoke ; and when obliged to, it was 
always in a very few words, and with great discretion. 
To his extreme affliction, when he was only twenty-eight 
years old, the Archbishop of Sebaste obliged him to quit 
his retreat, and ordained him Bishop of Colonian in Arme- 
nia, in 482. In this dignity John preserved always the 
same spirit, and, as much as was compatible with the 
duties of his charge, continued his monastic austerities and 
exercises. Whilst he was watching one night in prayer, 
he saw before him a bright cross formed in the air, and 
heard a voice which said to him, "If thou desirest to be 
saved, follow this light." It seemed to move before him, 
and at length point out to the monastery of St. Sabas. 
Being satisfied what the sacrifice was which God required 
at his hands, he found means to abdicate the episcopal 
charge, and retired to the neighboring monastery of St. 
Sabas, which at that time contained one hundred and fifty 
fervent monks. St. John was then thirty-eight years old. 
After living there unknown for some years, fetching water, 




May 14] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



179 



carrying stones, and doing other menial work, St. Sabas, 
judging him worthy to be promoted to the priesthood, 
presented him to the Patriarch Elias. St. John took the 
patriarch aside, and, having obtained from him a promise 
of secrecy, said, " Father, I have been ordained bishop ; 
but on account of the multitude of my sins have fled, and 
am come into this desert to wait the visit of the Lord/' 
The patriarch was startled, but God revealed to St. Sabas 
the state of the affair, whereupon, calling for John, he 
complained to him of his unkindness in concealing the 
matter from him. Finding himself discovered, John 
wished to quit the monastery, nor could St. Sabas prevail 
on him to stay, but on a promise never to divulge the 
secret. In the year 503, St. John withdrew into a neigh- 
boring wilderness, but in 510 went back to the monastery, 
and confined himself for forty years to his cell. St. J ohn, 
by his example and counsels, conducted many fervent souls 
to God, and continued to emulate, as much as this mortal 
state will allow, the glorious employment of the heavenly 
spirits in an uninterrupted exercise of love and praise, till 
he passed to their blessed company, soon after the year 
558 ; having lived seventy-six years in the desert, which had 
only been interrupted by the nine years of his episcopal 
dignity. 

Reflection. — A love of Christian silence is a proof that a 
soul makes it her chiefest delight to be occupied on God, 
and finds no comfort like that of conversing with Him. 
This is the paradise of all devout souls. 



N the beginning of the fourth century great levies of 



of the Soman emperor. Among the recruits was Pacho- 
mius, a young heathen, then in his twenty-first year. On 
his way down the Nile he passed a village, whose inhabit- 
ants gave him food and money. Marvelling at this kind- 
ness, Pachomius was told they were Christians, and hoped 
for a reward in the life to come. He then prayed God to 
show him the truth, and promised to devote his life to His 



May 14.— ST. PACHOMIUS, Abbot 




throughout Egypt for the service 



180 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[May 15 



service. On being discharged, he returned to a Christian 
village in Egypt, where he was instructed and baptized. 
Instead of going home, he sought Palemon, an aged soli- 
tary, to learn from him a perfect life, and with great joy 
embraced the most severe austerities. Their food was 
bread and water, once a day in summer, and once in two 
days in winter; sometimes they added herbs, but mixed 
ashes with them. They only slept one hour each night, 
and this short repose Pachomius took sitting upright with- 
out support. Three times God revealed to him that he was 
to found a religious order at Tabenna; and an angel gave 
him a rule of life. Trusting in God, he built a monastery, 
although he had no disciples; but vast multitudes soon 
flocked to him, and he trained them in perfect detachment 
from creatures and from self. One day a monk, by dint of 
great exertions, contrived to make two mats instead of the 
one which was the usual daily task, and set them both out 
in front of his cell, that Pachomius might see how diligent 
he had been. But the Saint, perceiving the vainglory 
which had prompted the act, said, " This brother has taken 
a great deal of pains from morning till night to give his 
work to the devil." Then, to cure him of his delusion, 
Pachomius imposed on him as a penance to keep his cell 
for five months and to taste no food but bread and water. 
His visions and miracles were innumerable, and he read 
all hearts. His holy death occurred in 348. 

Reflection. — "To live in great simplicity," said St. 
Pachomius, " and in a wise ignorance, is exceeding wise." 

May 15.— STS. PETER and DIONYSIA. 

Xn the Decian persecution the blood of the Christians 
flowed at Lampsacus, a city of Asia Minor. St. 
Peter was the first who was led before the proconsul and 
condemned to die for the name of Christ. Young though 
he was, he went joyfully to his torments. He was bound 
to a wheel by iron chains, and his bones were broken, but 
he raised his eyes to heaven with a smiling countenance 
and said, "I give Thee thanks, 0 Lord Jesus Christ, be- 
cause Thou hast given me patience, and made me victori- 



May 16] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



181 



ous over the tyrant." The proconsul saw how little suffer- 
ing availed, and ordered the martyr to he beheaded. But 
a little later, in the same city, the virgin Dionysia showed 
a like eagerness to suffer. St. Dionysia gained the crown 
which an apostate lost, and his history may teach us that 
those who lose Christ rather than suffer with Him lose all. 
With the strength that was left he cried out, " I never was 
a Christian. I sacrifice to the gods." Therefore he was 
taken down, and he offered sacrifice. But he was pos- 
sessed by the devil, whom he had chosen for his master. 
He fell to the earth in a fit, bit out his tongue, and so 
expired. He escaped a little pain, and instead he went 
to the endless torments of hell, and forfeited eternal rest. 
a 0 wretched man ! " Dionysia cried, " why have you 
feared a little suffering and chosen eternal pain instead? " 
She was seized and. led away to horrible outrage, but her 
angel guardian appeared by her side and protected the 
spouse of Christ. Escaping from prison, she still burned 
with the desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. She 
threw herself upon the bodies of the martyrs, saying, " I 
would fain die with you on earth, that I may live with you 
in heaven." And Christ, Who is the crown of virgins and 
the strength of martyrs, gave her the desire of her heart. 

Reflection. — The martyrs were even like us, with natures 
which shrank from suffering. They were patient under 
it because they looked to the eternal recompense, and en- 
dured as seeing Him Who is invisible. 



May i6.— ST. JOHN NEPOMUCEN. 

t. John was born, in answer to prayer, 1330, of poor 
parents, at Nepomuc in Bohemia. In gratitude they 
consecrated him to G-od; and his holy life as a priest led 
to his appointment as chaplain to the court of the Em- 
peror Wenceslas, where he converted numbers by his 
preaching and example. Amongst those who sought his 
advice was the empress, who suffered much from her 
husband's unfounded jealousy. St. John taught her to 
bear her cross with joy; but her piety only incensed the 
emperor, and he tried to extort her confessions from the 




182 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[May 17 



Saint. He threw St. John into a dungeon, but gained 
nothing; then, inviting him to his palace, he promised him 
riches if he would yield, and threatened death if he re- 
fused. The Saint was silent. He was racked and burnt 
with torches ; but no words, save Jesus and Mary, fell from 
his lips. At last set free, he spent his time in preaching, 
and preparing for the death he knew to be at hand. On 
Ascension Eve, May 16, Wenceslas, after a final and fruit- 
less attempt to move his constancy, ordered him to be cast 
into the river, and that night the martyr's hands and feet 
were bound, and he was thrown from the bridge of Prague. 
As he died, a heavenly light shining on the water discovered 
the body, which was buried with the honors due to a Saint. 
A few years later, Wenceslas was deposed by his own sub- 
jects, and died an impenitent and miserable death. In 
1618 the Calvinist and Hussite soldiers of the Protestant 
Elector Frederick tried repeatedly to demolish the shrine 
of St. John at Prague. Each attempt was miraculously 
frustrated; and once the persons engaged in the sacrilege, 
among whom was an Englishman, were killed on the spot. 
In 1620 the imperial troops recovered the town by a victory 
which was ascribed to the Saint's intercession, as he was 
seen on the eve of the battle, radiant with glory, guarding 
the cathedral. When his shrine was opened, three hundred 
and thirty years after his decease, the flesh had disappeared, 
and one member alone remained incorrupt, the tongue; 
thus still, in silence, giving glory to God. 

Reflection. — St. John, who by his invincible sacramental 
silence won his crown, teaches us to prefer torture and 
death to offending the Creator with our tongue. How 
many times each day do we forfeit grace and strength by 
sins of speech! 

May 17.— ST. PASCHAL BAYLON. 

Erom a child Paschal seems to have been marked out 
for the service of God; and amidst his daily labors 
he found time to instruct and evangelize the rude herds- 
men who kept their flocks on the hills of Arragon. At the 
age of twenty-four he entered the Franciscan Order, in 



May 18] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



183 



which, however, he remained, from humility, a simple lay- 
brother, and occupied himself, by preference, with the 
roughest and most servile tasks. He was distinguished by 
an ardent love and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. He 
would spend hours on his knees before the tabernacle — 
often he was raised from the ground in the fervor of his 
prayer — and there, from the very and eternal Truth, he 
drew such stores of wisdom that, unlettered as he was, he 
was counted by all a master in theology and spiritual sci- 
ence. Shortly after his profession he was called to Paris 
on business connected with his Order. The journey was 
full of peril, owing to the hostility of the Huguenots, who 
were numerous at the time in the south of France ; and on 
four separate occasions Paschal was in imminent danger of 
death at the hands of the heretics. But it was not God's 
will that His servant should obtain the crown of martyr- 
dom which, though judging himself all unworthy of it, he 
so earnestly desired, and he returned in safety to his con- 
vent, where he died in the odor of sanctity, May 15, 1592. 

As Paschal was watching his sheep on the mountain- 
side, he heard the consecration bell ring out from a church 
in the valley below, where the villagers were assembled for 
Mass. The Saint fell on his knees, when suddenly there 
stood before him an angel of ©od, bearing in his hands the 
Sacred Host, and offering it for his adoration. Learn from 
this how pleasing to J esus Christ are those who honor Him 
in this great mystery of His love ; and how to them espe- 
cially this promise is fulfilled : " I will not leave you 
orphans: I will come unto you" (John xiv. 18). 

Reflection. — St. Paschal teaches us never to suffer a day 
to pass without visiting Jesus in the narrow chamber where 
He, Whom the heaven itself cannot contain, abides day 
and night for our sake. 

May i8.— ST. VEMANTIUS, Martyr. 

t. Venantius was born at Camerino in Italy, and at 
the age of fifteen was seized as a Christian and 
carried before a judge. As it was found impossible to 
shake his constancy either by threats or promises, he was 




184 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[May 18 



condemned to be scourged, but was miraculously saved by 
an angel. He was then burnt with torches and hung over 
a low fire that he might be suffocated by the smoke. The 
judge's secretary, admiring the steadfastness of the Saint, 
and seeing an angel robed in white, who trampled out the 
fire and again set free the youthful martyr, proclaimed 
his faith in Christ, was baptized with his whole family, and 
shortly after won the martyr's crown himself. Venantius 
was then carried before the governor, who, unable to make 
him renounce his faith, cast him into prison with an apos- 
tate, who vainly strove to tempt him. The governor then 
ordered his teeth and jaws to be broken, and had him 
thrown into a furnace, from which the angel once more 
delivered him. The Saint was again led before the judge, 
who at sight of him fell headlong from his seat and ex- 
pired, crying, " The God of Venantius is the true God; let 
us destroy our idols/' This circumstance being told to the 
governor, he ordered Venantius to be thrown to the lions; 
but these brutes, forgetting their natural ferocity, crouched 
at the feet of the Saint. Then, by order of the tyrant, the 
young martyr was dragged through a heap of brambles and 
thorns, but again God manifested the glory of His servant ; 
the soldiers suffering from thirst, the Saint knelt on a rock 
and signed it with a cross, when immediately a jet of clear, 
cool water spurted up from the spot. This miracle con- 
verted many of those who beheld it, whereupon the governor 
had Venantius and his converts beheaded together in the 
year 250. The bodies of these martyrs are kept in the 
church at Camerino which bears the Saint's name. 

Reflection. — Love of suffering marks the most perfect 
degree in the love of God. Our Lord Himself was con- 
sumed with the desire to suffer, because He burnt with the 
love of God. We must begin with patience and detachment. 
At last we shall learn to love the sufferings which conform 
us to the Passion of our Eedeemer. 



May 19] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



185 



May 19. — ST. PETER CELESTINE. 

s a child, Peter had visions of our blessed Lady, and 
of the angels and saints. They encouraged him in 
his prayer, and chided him when he fell into any fault. 
His mother, though only a poor widow, put him to school, 
feeling sure that he would one day be a Saint. At the age 
of twenty, he left his home in Apulia to live in a mountain 
solitude. Here he passed three years, assaulted by the 
evil spirits and beset with temptations of the flesh, but 
consoled by angels' visits. After this his seclusion was 
invaded by disciples, who refused to be sent away ; and the 
rule of life which he gave them formed the foundation of 
the Celestine Order. Angels assisted in the church which 
Peter built; unseen bells rang peals of surpassing sweet- 
ness, and heavenly music filled the sanctuary when he 
offered the Holy Sacrifice. Suddenly he found himself 
torn from his loved solitude by his election to the Papal 
throne. Eesistance was of no avail. He took the name of 
Celestine, to remind him of the heaven he was leaving and 
for which he sighed, and was consecrated at Aquila. After 
a reign of four months, Peter summoned the cardinals to 
his presence, and solemnly resigned his trust. St. Peter 
built himself a boarded cell in his palace, and there con- 
tinued his hermit's life ; and when, lest his simplicity might 
be taken advantage of to distract the peace of the Church, 
he was put under guard, he said, a I desired nothing but a 
cell, and a cell they have given me/' There he enjoyed 
his former loving intimacy with the saints and angels, and 
sang the Divine praises almost continually. At length, on 
Whit-Sunday, he told his guards he should die within the 
week, and immediately fell ill. He received the last sacra- 
ments ; and the following Saturday, as he finished the con- 
cluding verse of Lauds, " Let every spirit bless the Lord ! 99 
he closed his eyes to this world and opened them to the 
vision of God. 

Reflection. — "Whoso/' says the Imitation of Christ, 
"withdraweth himself from acquaintances and friends, to 
him will God draw near with His holy angels." 




186 LIVES OF THE 8AINT8 [May 21 



May 20. — ST. BERNARD INE OF SIENA. 

1408 St. Vincent Ferrer once suddenly interrupted 
his sermon to declare that there was among his hearers 
a young Franciscan who would be one day a greater 
preacher than himself, and would be set before him in 
honor by the Church. This unknown friar was Bernard- 
ine. Of noble birth, he had spent his youth in works of 
mercy, and had then entered religion. Owing to a de- 
fective utterance, his success as a preacher at first seemed 
doubtful, but, by the prayers of Our Lady, this obstacle 
was miraculously removed, and Bernardine began an apos- 
tolate which lasted thirty-eight years. By his burning 
words and by the power of the Holy Name of Jesus, which 
he displayed on a tablet at the end of his sermons, he 
obtained miraculous conversions, and reformed the greater 
part of Italy. But this success had to be exalted by the 
cross. The Saint was denounced as a heretic and his de- 
votion as idolatrous. After many trials he lived to see his 
innocence proved, and a lasting memorial of his work 
established in a church. The Feast of the Holy Name 
commemorates at once his sufferings and his triumph. 
He died on Ascension Eve, 1444, while his brethren were 
chanting the antiphon, " Father, I have manifested Thy 
Name to men." St. Bernardine, when a youth, under- 
took the charge of a holy old woman, a relation of his, 
who had been left destitute. She was blind and bedridden, 
and during her long illness could only utter the Holy 
Name. The Saint watched over her till she died, and 
thus learned the devotion of his life. 

Reflection. — Let us learn from the life of St. Bernardine 
the power of the Holy Name in life and death. 

May 2i. — ST. HOSPITIUS, Recluse. 

T. Hospitius shut himself up in the ruins of an old 
tower near Viliafranea, one league from Nice in Pro- 
vence. He girded himself with a heavy iron chain and 
lived on bread and dates only. During Lent he redoubled 
his austerities, and, in order to conform his life more 




May 22] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



187 



closely to that of the anchorites of Egypt, ate nothing but 
roots. For his great virtues Heaven honored him with 
the gifts of prophecy and of miracles. He foretold the 
ravages which the Lombards would make in Gaul. These 
barbarians, having come to the tower in which Hospitius 
lived, and seeing the chain with which he was bound, mis- 
took him for some criminal who was there imprisoned. 
On questioning the Saint, he acknowledged that he was a 
great sinner and unworthy to live. Whereupon one of the 
soldiers lifted his sword to strike him; but God did not 
desert His faithful servant : the soldier's arm stiffened and 
became numb, and it was not until Hospitius made the 
sign of the cross over it that the man recovered the use 
of it. The soldier embraced Christianity, renounced the 
world, and passed the rest of his days in serving God. 
When our Saint felt that his last hour was nearing, he took 
off his chain and knelt in prayer for a long time. Then, 
stretching himself on a little bank of earth, he calmly gave 
up his soul to God, on the 21st of May, 681. 

Reflection. — If we do not love penitence for its own 
sake, let us love it on account of our sins; for we should 
u work out our salvation in fear and trembling/' 

May 22.— ST. YVO, Confessor. 

t. Yvo Heloei, descended from a noble and virtuous 
family near Treguier, in Brittanv, was born in 1253. 
At fourteen years of age he went to Paris, and afterwards 
to Orleans, to pursue his studies. His mother was wont 
frequently to say to him that he ought so to live as became 
a Saint, to which his answer always was, that he hoped 
to be one. This resolution took deep root in his soul, and 
was a continual spur to virtue, and a check against the 
least shadow of any dangerous course. His time was 
chiefly divided between study and prayer ; for his recreation 
he visited the hospitals, where he attended the sick with 
great charity, and comforted them under the severe trials 
of their suffering condition. He made a private vow of 
perpetual chastity ; but this not being known, many honor- 
able matches were proposed to him, which he modestly 




188 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[May 22 



rejected as incompatible with his studious life. He long 
deliberated whether to embrace a religious or a clerical 
state; but the desire of serving his neighbor determined 
him at length in favor of the latter. He wished, out of 
humility, to remain in the lesser orders; but his bishop 
compelled him to receive the priesthood, — a step which 
cost him many tears, though he had qualified himself for 
that sacred dignity by the most perfect purity of mind and 
body, and by a long and fervent preparation. He was ap- 
pointed ecclesiastical judge for the diocese of Kennes. St. 
Yvo protected the orphans and widows, defended the poor, 
and administered justice to all with an. impartiality, appli- 
cation, and tenderness which gained him the good-will even 
of those who lost their causes. He was surnamed the advo- 
cate and lawyer of the poor. He built a house near his 
own for a hospital of the poor and sick; he washed their 
feet, cleansed their ulcers, served them at table, and ate 
himself only the scraps which they had left. He dis- 
tributed his corn, or the price for which he sold it, among 
the poor immediately after the harvest. When a certain 
person endeavored to persuade him to keep it some months, 
that he might sell it at a better price, he answered, " I know 
not whether I shall be then alive to give it." Another time 
the same person said to him, "X have gained a fifth by 
keeping my corn." " But I," replied the Saint, " a hun- 
dredfold by giving it immediately away." During the 
Lent of 1303 he felt his strength failing him; yet, far from 
abating anything in his austerities, he thought himself 
obliged to redouble his fervor in proportion as he advanced 
nearer to eternity. On the eve of the Ascension he 
preached to his people, said Mass, being upheld by two 
persons, and gave advice to all who addressed themselves 
to him. After this he lay down on his bed, which was a 
hurdle of twigs plaited together, and received the last sacra- 
ments. From that moment he entertained himself with 
God alone, till his soul went to possess Him in His glory. 
His death happened on the 19th of May, 1303, in the 
fiftieth year of his age. 

Reflection. — St. Yvo was a Saint amidst the dangers of 
the world; but he preserved his virtue untainted only by 



May 23] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



189 



arming himself carefully against them, by conversing as- 
siduously with God in prayer and holy meditation, and by 
most watchfully shunning the snares of bad company. 
Without this precaution all the instructions of parents and 
all other means of virtue are ineffectual; and the soul is 
sure to split against this rock which does not steer wide 
of it. 



May 23.— ST. JULIA, Virgin, Martyr. 

t. Julia was a noble virgin of Carthage, who, when 
the city was taken by Genseric in 439, was sold for 
a slave to a pagan merchant of Syria named Eusebius. 
Under the most mortifying employments of her station, by 
cheerfulness and patience she found a happiness and com- 
fort which the world could not have afforded. All the 
time she was not employed in her master's business was 
devoted to prayer and reading books of piety, Her master, 
who was charmed with her fidelity and other virtues, 
thought proper to •carry her with him on one of his voyages 
to Gaul. Having reached the northern part of Corsica, he 
cast anchor, and went on shore to join the pagans of the 
place in an idolatrous festival. Julia was left at some dis- 
tance, because she would not be defiled by the superstitious 
ceremonies which she openly reviled. Felix, the governor 
of the island, who was a bigoted pagan, asked who this 
woman was who dared to insult the gods. Eusebius in- 
formed him that she was a Christian, and that all his 
authority over her was too weak to prevail with her to re- 
nounce her religion, but that he found her so diligent and 
faithful he could not part with her. The governor offered 
him four of his best female slaves in exchange for her. 
But the merchant replied, " No ; all you are worth will not 
purchase her; for I would freely lose the most valuable 
thing I have in the world rather than be deprived of her." 
However, the governor, while Eusebius was drunk and 
asleep, took upon him to compel her to sacrifice to his gods. 
He offered to procure her liberty if she would comply. 
The Saint made answer that she was as free as she desired 
to be as long as she was allowed to serve Jesus Christ. 




190 



LIVES OF THE SAINT8 



[May 24 



Felix, thinking himself derided by her undaunted and reso- 
lute air, in a transport of rage caused her to be struck 
on the face, and the hair of her head to be torn off, and, 
lastly, ordered her to be hanged on a cross till she expired. 
Certain monks of the isle of Gorgon carried off her body; 
but in 763 Desiderius, King of Lombardy, removed her 
relics to Brescia, where her memory is celebrated with great 
devotion. 

Reflection.— St. Julia, whether free or a slave, whether 
in prosperity or in adversity, was equally fervent and de- 
vout. She adored all the sweet designs of Providence ; and 
far from complaining, she never ceased to praise and thank 
God under all His holy appointments, making them always 
the means of her virtue and sanctification. God, by an 
admirable chain of events, raised her by her fidelity to the 
honor of the saints, and to the dignity of a virgin and 
martyr. 

May 24.— STS. DONATIAN and ROGATIAN, 
Martyrs. 

here lived at Nantes an illustrious young nobleman 
named Donatian, who, having received the holy Sacra- 
ment of Eegeneration, led a most edifying life, and strove 
with much zeal to convert others to faith in Christ. His 
elder brother, Eogatian, was not able to resist the moving 
example of his piety and the force of his discourses, and 
desired to be baptized. But the bishop having withdrawn 
and concealed himself for fear of the persecution, he was 
not able to receive that sacrament, but was shortly after 
baptized in his blood; for he declared himself a Christian 
at a time when to embrace that sacred profession was to 
become a candidate for martyrdom. Donatian was im- 
peached for professing himself a Christian, and for having 
withdrawn others, particularly his brother, from the wor- 
ship of the gods. Donatian was therefore apprehended, 
and having boldly confessed Christ before the governor, 
was cast into prison and loaded with irons. Eogatian was 
also brought before the prefect, who endeavored first to 
gain him by flattering speeches, but finding him inflexible, 




May 25] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



191 



sent him to prison with his brother. Eogatian grieved that 
he had not been able to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, 
and prayed that the kiss of peace which his brother gave 
him might supply it. Donatian also prayed for him that 
his faith might procure for him the effect of Baptism, and 
the effusion of his blood that of the Sacrament of Confirma- 
tion. They passed that night together in fervent prayer. 
They were the next day called for again by the prefect, to 
whom they declared that they were ready to suffer for the 
name of Christ whatever torments were prepared for them. 
By the order of the inhuman judge they were first stretched 
on the rack, afterwards their hands were pierced with lances, 
and lastly cut off, about the year 287. 

Reflection. — Three things are pleasing unto God and 
man : concord among brethren, the love of parents, and the 
union of man and wife. 



May 25. — ST\ GREGORY VII. 

/^Veegory VII., by name Hildebrand, was born in Tus- 
V-A cany, about the year 1013. He was educated in 
Home. From thence he went to France, and became a 
monk at Cluny. Afterwards he returned to Home, and for 
many years filled high trusts of the Holy See. Three great 
evils then afflicted the Church : simony, concubinage, and 
the custom of receiving investiture from lay hands. 
Against these three corruptions Gregory never ceased to 
contend. As legate of Victor II. he held a Council at 
Lyons, where simony was condemned. He was elected 
Pope in 1073, and at once called upon the pastors of the 
Catholic world to lay down their lives rather than betray 
the laws of God to the will of princes. Eome was in rebel- 
lion through the ambition of the Cenci. Gregory excom- 
municated them. They laid hands on him at Christmas 
during the midnight Mass, wounded him, and cast him into 
prison. The following day he was rescued by the people. 
Next arose his conflict with Henry IV., Emperor of Ger- 
many. This monarch, after openly relapsing into simony, 
pretended to depose the Pope. Gregory excommunicated 
the emperor. His subjects turned against him, and at last 



192 LIVE 8 OF THE SAINTS [May 26 



he sought absolution of Gregory at Canossa. But he did 
not persevere. He set up an antipope, and besieged Greg- 
ory in the castle of St. Angelo. The aged pontiff was 
obliged to flee, and on May 25, 1085, about the seventy- 
second year of his life and the twelfth year of his pontifi- 
cate, Gregory entered into his rest. His last words were 
full of a divine wisdom and patience. As he was dying, 
he said, " I have loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore 
I die in exile." His faithful attendant answered, " Vicar 
of Christ, an exile thou canst never be, for to thee God hag 
given the Gentiles for an inheritance, and the uttermost 
ends of the earth for thy possession." 

Reflection. — Eight hundred years are passed since St. 
Gregory died, and we see the same conflict renewed before 
our eyes. Let us learn from him to suffer any persecution 
from the world or the state, rather than betray the rights 
of the Holy See. 



May 26.— ST. PHILIP NERI. 

Qhilip was one of the noble line of Saints raised up by 
God in the sixteenth century to console and bless His 
Church. After a childhood of angelic beauty the Holy 
Spirit drew him away from Florence, the place of his birth, 
showed him the world, that he might freely renounce it, 
led him to Eome, modelled him in mind and heart and will, 
and then, as by a second Pentecost, came down in visible 
form and filled his soul with light and peace and joy. He 
would have gone to India, but God reserved him for Eome. 
There he went on simply from day to day, drawing souls to 
Jesus, exercising them in mortification and charity, and 
binding them together by cheerful devotions ; thus, uncon- 
sciously to himself, under the hands of Mary, as he said, 
the Oratory grew up, and all Eome was pervaded and trans- 
formed by its spirit. His life was a continuous miracle, 
his habitual state an ecstasy. He read the hearts of men, 
foretold their future, knew their eternal destiny. His 
touch gave health of body; his very look calmed souls in 
trouble and drove away temptations. He was gay, genial, 



May 26] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



193 



and irresistibly winning; neither insult nor wrong could 
dim the brightness of his joy. 

Philip lived in an atmosphere of sunshine and gladness 
which brightened all who came near him. " When I met 
him in the street," says one, " he would pat my cheek and 
say, c Well, how is Don Pellegrino ? 3 and leave me so full 
of joy that I could not tell which way I was going." 
Others said that when he playfully pulled their hair or 
their ears, their hearts would bound with joy. Marcio 
Altieri felt such overflowing gladness in his presence that 
he said Philip's room was a paradise on earth. Fabrizio 
de Massimi would go in sadness or perplexity and stand at 
Philip's door ; he said it was enough to see him, to be near 
him. And long after his death it was enough for many, 
when troubled, to go into his room to find their hearts 
lightened and gladdened. He inspired a boundless confi- 
dence and love, and was the common refuge and consoler 
of all. A gentle jest would convey his rebukes and veil his 
miracles. The highest honors sought him out, but he put 
them from him. He died in his eightieth year, in 1595, 
and bears the grand title of Apostle of Eome. 

Reflection. — Philip wished his children to serve God, 
like the first Christians, in gladness of heart. He said this 
was the true filial spirit; this expands the soul, giving it 
liberty and perfection in action, power over temptations, 
and fuller aid to perseverance. 

ST. AUGUSTINE, Apostle of England. 

ugustine was prior of the monastery of St. Andrew 
on the Ccelian, and was appointed by St. Gregory the 
great chief of the missionaries whom he sent to England. 

St. Augustine and his companions, having heard on their 
journey many reports of the barbarism and ferocity of the 
pagan English, were afraid, and wished to turn back. But 
St. Gregory replied, u Go on, in God's name ! The greater 
your hardships, the greater your crown. May the grace 
of Almighty God protect you, and give me to see the 
fruit of your labor in the heavenly country ! If I cannot 
share your toil, I shall yet share the harvest, for God knows 




194 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[May 27 



that it is not good-will which is wanting." The band of 
missionaries went on in obedience. 

Landing at Ebbsfleet, between Sandwich and Kamsgate, 
they met King Ethelbert and his thanes under a great 
oak-tree at Minster, and announced to him the Gospel of 
Jesus Christ. Instant and complete success attended their 
preaching. On Whit- Sunday, 596, King Ethelbert was 
baptized, and his example was followed by the greater 
number of his nobles and people. By degrees the Faith 
spread far and wide, and Augustine, as Papal Legate, set 
out on a visitation of Britain. He failed in his attempt to 
enlist the Britons of the west in the work of his apostolate, 
through their obstinate jealousy and pride ; but his success 
was triumphant from south to north. St. Augustine died 
after eight years of evangelical labors. The Anglo-Saxon 
Church, which he founded, is still famous for its learning, 
zeal, and devotion to the Holy See, while its calendar com- 
memorates no less than 300 Saints, half of whom were of 
royal birth. 

Reflection. — The work of an apostle is the work of the 
right hand of God. He often chooses weak instruments 
for His mightiest purposes. The most sure augury of last- 
ing success in missionary labor is obedience to superiors 
and diffidence in self. 

May 27.— ST. MARY MAGDALEN OF PAZZI. 

t. Mary Magdalen of Pazzl, of an illustrious house 
in Florence, was born in the year 1566, and baptized 
by the name of Catherine. She received her first Com- 
munion at ten years of age, and made a vow of virginity 
at twelve. She took great pleasure in carefully teaching 
the Christian doctrine to the ignorant. Her father, not 
knowing her vow, wished to give her in marriage, but she 
persuaded him to allow her to become a religious. It was 
more difficult to obtain her mother's consent; but at last 
she gained it, and she was professed, being then eighteen 
years of age, in the Carmelite monastery of Santa Maria 
degli Angeli in Florence, May 17, 1584. She changed her 
name Catherine into that of Mary Magdalen on becoming a 




May 27] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



195 



nun, and took as her motto, " To suffer or die ; 99 and her 
life henceforth was a life of penance for sins not her own, 
and of love of Our Lord, Who tried her in wa) r s fearful and 
strange. She was obedient, observant of the rule, humble 
and mortified, and had a great reverence for the religious 
life. She loved poverty and suffering, and hungered after 
Communion. The day of Communion she called the day 
of love. The charity that burned in her heart led her in 
her youth to choose the house of the Carmelites, because 
the religious therein communicated every day. She re- 
joiced to see others communicate, even when she was not 
allowed to do so herself ; and her love for her sisters grew 
when she saw them receive Our Lord. 

God raised her to high states of prayer, and gave her rare 
gifts, enabling her to read the thoughts of her novices, and 
filling her with wisdom to direct them aright. She was 
twice chosen mistress of novices, and then made superioress, 
when God took her to Himself, May 25, 1607, Her body 
is incorrupt. 

Reflection. — St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi was so filled 
with the love of God that her sisters in the monastery 
observed it in her love of themselves, and called her " the 
Mother of Charity 99 and a the Charity of the Monastery/' 

VENERABLE BEDE. 

Venerable Bede, the illustrious ornament of the Anglo- 
Saxon Church and the first English historian, was 
consecrated to God at the age of seven, and intrusted to the 
care of St. Benedict Biscop at Wearmouth. He became a 
monk in the sister-house of Jarrow, and there trained no 
less than six hundred scholars, whom his piety, learning, 
and sweet disposition had gathered round him. To the 
toils of teaching and the exact observance of his rule he 
added long hours of private prayer, and the study of every 
branch of science and literature then known. He was 
familiar with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. In the treatise 
which he compiled for his scholars, still extant, he threw 
together all that the world had then stored in history, 
chronology, physics, music, philosophy, poetry, arithmetic, 



196 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



[May 28 



and medicine. In his Ecclesiastical History he has left ns 
beautiful lives of Anglo-Saxon Saints and holy Fathers, 
while his commentaries on the Holy Scriptures are still in 
use by the Church. It was to the study of the Divine Word 
that he devoted the whole energy of his soul, and at times 
his compunction was so overpowering that his voice would 
break with weeping, while the tears of his scholars mingled 
with his own. He had little aid from others, and during 
his later years suffered from constant illness ; yet he worked 
and prayed up to his last hour. . 

The Saint was employed in translating the Gospel of St. 
John from the Greek up to the hour of his death, which 
took place on Ascension Day, 735. "He spent that day 
joyfully/' writes one of his scholars. And in the even- 
ing the boy who attended him said, " Dear master, there is 
yet one sentence unwritten/' He answered, "Write it 
quickly." Presently the youth said, " Now it is written." 
He replied, " Good ! thou hast said the truth — consum- 
matum est; take my head into thy hands, for it is very 
pleasant to me to sit facing my old praying-place, and 
there to call upon my Father." And so on the floor of his 
cell he sang, " Glory be to the Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost;" and just as he said "Holy Ghost," he breathed 
his last, and went to the realms above. 

Reflection. — " The more," says the Imitation of Christ, 
" a man is united within himself and interiorly simple, so 
much the more and deeper things doth he understand 
without labor ; for he receiveth the light of understanding 
from on high." 

May 28.— ST. GERMANUS, Bishop. 

t. Germanus, the glory of the Church of France in 
the sixth century, was born in the territory of Autun, 
about the year 469. In his youth he was conspicuous for 
his fervor. Being ordained priest, he was made abbot of 
St. Symphorian's ; he was favored at that time with the 
gifts of miracles and prophecy. It was his custom to 
watch the great part of the night in the church in prayer, 
whilst his monks slept. One night, in a dream, he thought 




May 29] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



197 



a venerable old man presented him with the keys of the 
city of Paris, and said to him that God committed to his 
care the inhabitants of that city, that he should save them 
from perishing. Four years after this divine admonition, 
in 554, happening to be at Paris when that see became 
vacant on the demise of the Bishop Eusebius, he was ex- 
alted to the episcopal chair, though he endeavored by many 
tears to decline the charge. His promotion made no al- 
teration in his mode of life. The same simplicity and 
frugality appeared in his dress, table, and furniture. His 
house was perpetually crowded with the poor and the af- 
flicted, and he had always many beggars at his own table. 
God gave to his sermons a wonderful influence over the 
minds of all ranks of people ; so that the face of the whole 
city was in a very short time quite changed. King Childe- 
bert, who till then had been an ambitious, worldly prince, 
was entirely converted by the sweetness and the powerful 
discourses of the Saint, and founded many religious in- 
stitutions, and sent large sums of money to the good bishop, 
to be distributed among the indigent. In his old age St. 
Germanus lost nothing of that zeal and activity with 
which he had filled the great duties of his station in the 
vigor of his life; nor did the weakness to which his cor- 
poral austerities had reduced him make him abate anj^thing 
in the mortifications of his penitential life, in which he 
redoubled his fervor as he approached nearer to the end 
of his course. By his zeal the remains of idolatry were 
extirpated in France. The Saint continued his labors for 
the conversion of sinners till he was called to receive the 
reward of them, on the 28th of May, 576, being eighty 
years old. 

Reflection. — " In the churches bless ye God the Lord. 
From Thy temple kings shall offer presents to Thee." 

May 29. — ST. CYRIL, Martyr. 

t. Cyril suffered while still a boy at Csesarea in Cap- 
padocia, during the persecutions of the third century. 
He used to repeat the name of Christ at all times, and 
confessed that the mere utterance of this name moved him 




198 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[May 30 



strangely. He was beaten and reviled by his heathen 
father. But he bore all this with joy, increasing in the 
strength of Christ, Who dwelt within him, and drawing 
many of his own age to the imitation of his heavenly life. 
When his father in his fury turned him out of doors, he 
said he had lost little, and would receive a great recom- 
pense instead. 

Soon after, he was brought before the magistrate on 
account of his faith. No threats could make him show a 
sign of fear, and the judge, pitying perhaps his tender 
years, offered him his freedom, assured him of his father's 
forgiveness, and besought him to return to his home and 
inheritance. But the blessed youth replied, "I left my 
home gladly, for I have a greater and a better which is 
waiting for me." He was filled with the same heavenly 
desires to the end. He was taken to the fires as if for exe- 
cution, and was then brought back and re-examined, but 
he only protested against the cruel delay. Led out to die, 
he hurried on the executioners, gazed unmoved at the 
flames which were kindled for him, and expired, hastening, 
as he said, to his home. 

Reflection. — Ask Our Lord to make all earthly joy in- 
sipid, and to fill you with the constant desire of heaven. 
This desire will make labor easy and suffering light. It 
will make you fervent and detached, and bring you even 
here a foretaste of that eternal joy and peace to which you 
are hastening. 

May 30.— ST. FELIX L, Pope and Martyr. 

T. Felix was a Eoman by birth, and succeeded St. 
Dionysius in the government of the Church in 269. 
Paul of Samosata, the proud Bishop of Antioch, to the 
guilt of many enormous crimes added that of heresy, teach- 
ing that Christ was no more than a mere man, in whom 
the Divine Word dwelt by its operation and as in its tem- 
ple, with many other gross errors concerning the capital 
mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation. Three councils 
were held at Antioch to examine his cause, and in the 
third, assembled in 269, being clearly convicted of heresy, 




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199 



pride, and many scandalous crimes, he was excommuni- 
cated and deposed, and Domnus was substituted in his 
place. As Paul still kept possession of the episcopal house, 
our Saint had recourse to the Emperor Aurelian, who, 
though a pagan, gave an order that the house should be- 
long to him to whom the bishops of Eome and Italy ad- 
judged it. The persecution of Aurelian breaking out, .St. 
Felix, fearless of danger, strengthened the weak, encour- 
aged all, baptized the catechumens, and continued to exert 
himself in converting infidels to the Faith. He him- 
self obtained the glory of martyrdom. He governed 
the Church five years, and passed to a glorious eternity 
in 274. 

Reflection. — The example of Our Saviour and of all His 
saints ought to encourage us under all trials to suffer with 
patience and even with joy. We shall soon begin to feel 
that it is sweet to tread in the steps of a God-man, and 
shall find that if we courageously take up our crosses, He 
will make them light by sharing the burden with us. 

May 31.— ST. PETRONILLA, Virgin. 

Hmong the disciples of the apostles in the primitive 
age of saints this holy virgin shone as a bright star 
in the Church. She lived when Christians were more 
solicitous to live well than to write much: they knew how 
to die for Christ, but did not compile long books in which 
vanity has often a greater share than charity. Hence no 
particular account of her actions has been handed down to 
us. But how eminent her sanctity was we may judge from 
the lustre by which it was distinguished among apostles, 
prophets, and martyrs. She is said to have been a daugh- 
ter of the apostle St. Peter; that St. Peter was married 
before his vocation to the apostleship we learn from the 
Gospel. St. Clement of Alexandria assures us that his 
wife attained to the glory of martyrdom, at which Peter 
himself encouraged her, bidding her to remember Our 
Lord. But it seems not certain whether St. Petronilla 
was more than the spiritual daughter of that apostle. She 
flourished at Eome, and was buried on the way to Ardea, 



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[June 1 



where in ancient times a cemetery and a church bore her 
name. 

Reflection. — With the saints the great end for which 
they lived was always present to their minds, and they 
thought every moment lost in which they did not make 
some advances toward eternal bliss. How will their ex- 
ample condemn at the last day the trifling fooleries and 
the greatest part of the conversation and employments of 
the world, which aim at nothing but present amusements, 
and forget the only important affair — the business of 
eternity. 

June i. — ST. JUSTIN, Martyr. 

T. Justin was born of heathen parents at Neapolis in 
Samaria, about the year 103. He was well educated, 
and gave himself to the study of philosophy, but always 
with one object, that he might learn the knowledge of 
God. He sought this knowledge among the contending 
schools of philosophy, but always in vain, till at last God 
himself appeased the thirst which He had created. One 
day, while Justin was walking by the seashore, meditating 
on the thought of God, an old man met him and questioned 
him on the subject of his doubts; and when he had made 
J ustin confess that the philosophers taught nothing certain 
about God, he told him of the writings of the inspired 
prophets and of Jesus Christ Whom they announced, and 
bade him seek light and understanding through prayer. 
The Scriptures and the constancy of the Christian martyrs 
led Justin from the darkness of human reason to the light 
of faith. In his zeal for the Faith he travelled to Greece, 
Egypt, and Italy, gaining many to Christ. At Home he 
sealed his testimony with his blood, surrounded by his dis- 
ciples. " Do you think/' the prefect said to Justin, " that 
by dying you will enter heaven, and be rewarded by God ? 9> 
"I do not think," was the Saint's answer; "I know." 
Then, as now, there were many religious opinions, but only 
one certain — the certainty of the Catholic faith. This 
certainty should be the measure of our confidence and our 
zeal. 




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201 



Reflection. — We have received the gift of faith with 
little labor of our own. Let us learn how to value it from 
those who reached it after long search, and lived in the 
misery of a world which did not know God. Let us fear, 
as St. Justin did, the account we shall have to render for 
the gift of God. 



ST. PAMPHILUS, Martyr. 

T. Pamphiltjs was of a rich and honorable family, 
and a native of Berytus, in which city, at that time 
famous for its schools, he in his youth ran through the 
whole circle of the sciences, and was afterward honored 
with the first employments of the magistracy. After he 
began to know Christ, he could relish no other study but 
that of salvation, and renounced everything else that he 
might apply himself wholly to the exercise of virtue and. 
the studies of the Holy Scriptures. This accomplished 
master in profane sciences, and this renowned magistrate, 
was not ashamed to become the humble scholar of Pierius, 
the successor of Origen, in the great catechetical school of 
Alexandria. He afterward made Csssarea, in Palestine, 
his residence, where, at his private expense, he collected a 
great library, which he bestowed on the church of that 
city. The Saint established there also a public school of 
sacred literature, and to his labors the Church was indebted 
for a most correct edition of the Holy Bible, which, with 
infinite care, he transcribed himself. But nothing was 
more remarkable in this Saint than his extraordinary hu- 
mility. His paternal estate he at length distributed among 
the poor; towards his slaves and domestics his behavior 
was always that of a brother or a tender father. He led 
a most austere life, sequestered from the world and its 
company, and was indefatigable in labor. Such a virtue 
was his apprenticeship to the grace of martyrdom. In the 
year 307, TJrbanus, the cruel governor of Palestine, caused 
him to be apprehended, and commanded him to be most 
inhumanly tormented. But the iron hooks which tore the 
martyr's sides served only to cover the judge with con- 
fusion. After this, the Saint remained almost two years 




202 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[June 2 



in prison. ITrbanus, the governor, was himself beheaded 
by an order of the Emperor Maximums, but was suc- 
ceeded by Firmilian, a man not less barbarous than bigoted 
and superstitious. After several butcheries, he caused St. 
Pamphilus to be brought before him, and passed sentence 
of death upon him. His flesh was torn off to the very 
bones, and his bowels exposed to view, and the torments 
were continued a long time without intermission, but he 
never once opened his mouth so much as to groan. He 
finished his martyrdom by a slow fire, and died invoking 
Jesus, the Son of God. 

Reflection. — A cloud of witnesses, a noble army of mar- 
tyrs, teach us by their constancy to suffer wrong with 
patience, and strenuously to resist evil. The daily trials 
we meet with from others or from ourselves are always 
sent us by God, Who sometimes throws difficulties in our 
way on purpose to reward our conquest; and sometimes, 
like a wise physician, restores us to our health by bitter 
potions. 



June 2.— STS. POTHINUS, Bishop, SANCTUS, AT- 
TALUS, BLANDINA, and the other Martyrs of 
Lyons. 

Y Tfter the miraculous victory obtained by the prayers 
!H of the Christians under Marcus Aurelius, in 174, 
the Church enjoyed a kind of peace, though it was often 
disturbed in particular places by popular commotions, or 
by the superstitious fury of certain governors. This ap- 
pears from the violent persecution which was raised three 
years after the aforesaid victory, at Vienne and Lyons, in 
177, whilst St. Pothinus was Bishop of Lyons, and St. 
Irenseus, who had been sent thither by St. Polycarp out of 
Asia, was a priest of that city. Many of the principal 
Christians were brought before the Eoman governor. 
Among them was a slave, Blandina : and her mistress, also 
a Christian, feared that Blandina lacked strength to brave 
the torture. She was tormented a whole day through, but 
she bore it all with joy till the executioners gave up, con- 



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203 



fessing themselves outdone. Red-hot plates were held to 
the sides of Sanctus, a deacon of Vienne, till his body be- 
came one great sore, and he looked no longer like a man ; 
but in the midst of his tortures he was " bedewed and 
strengthened by the stream of heavenly water which flows 
from the side of Christ." Meantime, many confessors 
were kept in prison and with them were some who had 
been terrified into apostasy. Even the heathens marked 
the joy of martyrdom in the Christians who were decked 
for their eternal espousals, and the misery of the apostates. 
But the faithful confessors brought back those who had 
fallen, and the Church, "that Virgin Mother," rejoiced 
when she saw her children live again in Christ. Some 
died in prison, the rest were martyred one by one, St. 
Blandina last of all, after seeing her younger brother put 
to a cruel death, and encouraging him to victory. 

Reflection. — In early times the Christians were called 
the children of joy. Let us seek the joy of the Holy Spirit 
to sweeten suffering, to temper earthly delight, till we en- 
ter into the joy of Our Lord. 



June 3.— ST. CLOTILDA, Queen. 

@T. Clotilda was daughter of Chilperic, younger 
brother to Gondebald, the tyrannical King of Bur- 
gundy, who put him and his wife, and his other brothers, 
except one, to death, in order to usurp their dominions. 
Clotilda was brought up in her uncle's court, and, by a 
singular providence, was instructed in the Catholic re- 
ligion, though she was educated in the midst of Arians. 
Her wit, beauty, meekness, modesty, and piety made her 
the adoration of all the neighboring kingdoms, and Clovis 
I., surnamed the Great, the victorious king of the Franks, 
demanded and obtained her in marriage. She honored 
her royal husband, studied to sweeten his warlike temper 
by Christian meekness, conformed herself to his humor in 
things that were indifferent, and, the better to gain his 
affections, made those things the subject of her discourse 
and praises in which she knew him to take the greatest de- 
light. When she saw herself mistress of his heart she did 



204 



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[June 4 



not defer the great work of endeavoring to win him to God, 
but the fear of giving offence to his people made him delay 
his conversion. His miraculous victory over the Alemanni, 
and his entire conversion in 496, were at length the fruit of 
our Saint's prayers. Clotilda, having gained to God this 
great monarch, never ceased to excite him to glorious ac- 
tions for the divine honor; among other religious founda- 
tions, he built in Paris, at her request, about the year 511, 
the great church of Sts. Peter and Paul, now called St. 
Genevieve's. This great prince died on the 27th of No- 
vember, in the year 511, at the age of forty-five, having 
reigned thirty years. His eldest son, Theodoric, reigned 
at Eheims over the eastern parts of France, Clodomir 
reigned at Orleans, Childebert at Paris, and Clotaire I. at 
Soissons. This division produced wars and mutual jeal- 
ousies, till in 560 the whole monarchy was reunited under 
Clotaire, the youngest of these brothers. The dissension 
in her family contributed more perfectly to wean Clotilda's 
heart from the world. She spent the remaining part of 
her life in exercises of prayer, almsdeeds, watching, fast- 
ing, and penance, seeming totally to forget that she had 
been queen or that her sons sat on the throne. Eternity 
filled her heart and employed all her thoughts. She fore- 
told her death thirty days before it happened. On the 
thirtieth day of her illness, she received the sacraments, 
made a public confession of her faith, and departed to the 
Lord on the 3d of June, in 545. 

Reflection. — St. Peter defines the mission of the Chris- 
tian woman ; to win the heart of those who believe not the 
word. 



June 4.— ST. FRANCIS CARACCIOLO. 

Erancis was born in the kingdom of Naples, of the 
princely family of Caracciolo. In childhood he 
shunned all amusements, recited the Eosary regularly, and 
loved to visit the Blessed Sacrament and to distribute his 
food to the poor. An attack of leprosy taught him the 
vileness of the human body and the vanity of the world 



June 4] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



205 



Almost miraculously cured, he renounced his home to 
study for the priesthood at Naples, where he spent his 
leisure hours in the prisons or visiting the Blessed Sacra- 
ment in unfrequented churches. God called him, when 
only twenty-five, to found an Order of Clerks Begular, 
whose rule was that each day one father fasted on bread 
and water, another took the discipline, a third wore a hair- 
shirt, while they always watched by turns in perpetual 
adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. They took the 
usual vows, adding a fourth — not to desire dignities. To 
establish his Order, Francis undertook many journeys 
through Italy and Spain, on foot and without money, con- 
tent with the shelter and crusts given him in charity. 
Being elected general, he redoubled his austerities, and de- 
voted seven hours daily to meditation on the Passion, be- 
sides passing most of the night praying before the Blessed 
Sacrament. Francis was commonly called the Preacher of 
Divine Love. But it was before the Blessed Sacrament 
that his ardent devotion was most clearly perceptible. In 
presence of his divine Lord his face usually emitted bril- 
liant rays of light; and he often bathed the ground with 
his tears when he prayed, according to his custom, pros- 
trate on his face before the tabernacle, and constantly 
repeating, as one devoured by internal fire, " The zeal of 
Thy house hath eaten me up." He died of fever, aged 
forty-four, on the eve of Corpus Christi, 1608, saying, 
" Let us go, let us go to heaven ! 99 When his body was 
opened after death, his heart was found as it were burnt up, 
and these words imprinted around it: Zelus domus Tuae 
comedit me " — " The zeal of Thy house hath eaten me up." 

Reflection. — It is for men, and not for angels, that our 
blessed Lord resides upon the altar. Yet angels throng 
our churches to worship Him while men desert Him. 
Learn from St. Francis to avoid such ingratitude, and to 
spend, as he did, every possible moment before the Most 
Holy Sacrament. 



206 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[June 5 



June 5.— ST. BONIFACE, Bishop, Martyr. 

t. Boniface was born at Crediton in Devonshire, 
England, in the year 680. Some missionaries stay- 
ing at his father's house spoke to him of heavenly things,, 
and inspired him with a wish to devote himself, as they 
did, to God. He entered the monastery of Exminster, and 
was there trained for his apostolic work. His first attempt 
to convert the pagans in Holland having failed, he went to 
Eome to obtain the Pope's blessing on his mission, and 
returned with authority to preach to the German tribes. 
It was a slow and dangerous task ; his own life was in con- 
stant peril, while his flock was often reduced to abject 
poverty by the wandering robber bands. Yet his courage 
never flagged. He began with Bavaria and Thuringia, 
next visited Friesland, then passed on to Hesse and Saxony, 
everywhere destroying the idol temples and raising churches 
on their site. He endeavored, as far as possible, to make 
every object of idolatry contribute in some way to the 
glory of God; on one occasion, having cut down on im- 
mense oak which was consecrated to Jupiter, he used the 
tree in building a church, which he dedicated to the Prince 
of the Apostles. He was now recalled to Eome, conse- 
crated Bishop by the Pope, and returned to extend and 
organize the rising German Church. With diligent care 
he reformed abuses among the existing clergy, and estab- 
lished religious houses throughout the land. At length, 
feeling his infirmities increase, and fearful of losing his 
martyr's crown, Boniface appointed a successor to his 
monastery, and set out to convert a fresh pagan tribe. 
While St. Boniface was waiting to administer Confirma- 
tion to some newly-baptized Christians, a troop of pagans 
arrived, armed with swords and spears. His attendants 
would have opposed them, but the Saint said to his fol- 
lowers : " My children, cease your resistance ; the long- 
expected day is come at last. Scripture forbids us to resist 
evil. Let us put our hope in God : He will save our souls." 
Scarcely had he ceased speaking, when the barbarians fell 
upon him and slew him with all his attendants, to the 
number of fifty-two. 




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207 



Reflection. — St. Boniface teaches us how the love of 
Christ changes all things. It was for Christ's sake that he 
toiled for souls, preferring poverty to riches, labor to rest, 
suffering to pleasure, death to life, that by dying he might 
live with Christ. 



June 6. — ST. NORBERT, Bishop. 

OF noble rank and rare talents, Norbert passed a most 
pious youth, and entered the ecclesiastical state. 
By a strange contradiction, his conduct now became a scan- 
dal to his sacred calling, and at the court of the Emperor 
Henry IV. he led, like many clerics of that age, a life 
of dissipation and luxury. One day, when he was thirty 
years of age, he was thrown half dead from his horse, and 
on recovering his senses, resolved upon a new life. After 
a severe and searching preparation, he was ordained priest, 
and began to expose the abuses of his Order. Silenced at 
first by a local council, he obtained the Pope's sanction and 
preached penance to listening crowds in France and the 
Netherlands. In the wild vale of Premontre he gave to 
some trained disciples the rule of St. Austin, and a white 
habit to denote the angelic purity proper to the priesthood. 
The Canons Eegular, or Premonstratensians, as they were 
called, were to unite the active work of the country clergy 
with the obligations of the monastic life. Their fervor 
renewed the spirit of the priesthood, quickened the faith 
of the people, and drove out heresy. A vile heretic, named 
Tankelin, appeared at Antwerp, in the time of St. ISTorbert, 
and denied the reality of the priesthood, and especially 
blasphemed the Blessed Eucharist. The Saint was sent 
for to drive out the pest. By his burning words he ex- 
posed the impostor and rekindled the faith in the Blessed 
Sacrament. Many of the apostates had proved their con- 
tempt for the Blessed Sacrament by burying it in filthy 
places. ISTorbert bade them search for the Sacred Hosts. 
They found them entire and uninjured, and the Saint bore 
them back in triumph to the tabernacle. Hence he is 
generally painted with the monstrance in his hand. In 
1126 Norbert found himself appointed Bishop of Magde- 



208 



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[June 7 



burg; and there, at the risk of his life, he zealously car- 
ried on his work of reform, and died, worn out with toil, 
at the age of fifty-three. 

Reflection.— Eeparation for the injuries offered to the 
Blessed Sacrament was the aim of St. Norbert's great work 
of reform — in himself, in the clergy, and in the faithful. 
How much does our present worship repair for our own 
past irreverences, and for the outrages offered by others to 
the Blessed Eucharist. 

June 7. — ST. ROBERT OF NEWMINSTER. 

1132 Eobert was a monk at Whitby, England, when 
news arrived that thirteen religious had been violently 
expelled from the Abbey of St. Mary, in York, for having 
proposed to restore the strict Benedictine rule. He at once 
set out to join them, and found them on the banks of the 
Skeld, near Bipon, living in the midst of winter in a hut 
made of hurdles and roofed with turf. In the spring they 
affiliated themselves to St. Bernard's reform at Clairvaux, 
and for two years struggled on in extreme poverty. At 
length the fame of their sanctity brought another novice, 
Hugh, Dean of York, who endowed the community with 
all his wealth, and thus laid the foundation of Fountains 
Abbey. In 1137 Baynulph, Baron of Morpeth, was so 
edified by the example of the monks at Fountains that he 
built them a monastery in Northumberland, called New- 
minster, of which St. Bobert became abbot. The holiness 
of his life, even more than his words, guided his brethren 
to perfection, and within the next ten years three new 
communities went forth from this one house to become 
centres of holiness in other parts. The abstinence of St. 
Bobert in refectory alone sufficed to maintain the mortified 
spirit of the community. One Easter Day, his stomach, 
weakened by the fast of Lent, could take no food, and he 
at last consented to try to eat some bread sweetened with 
honey. Before it was brought, he felt this relaxation 
would be a dangerous example for his subjects, and sent 
the food untouched to the poor at the gate. The plate was 
received by a young man of shining countenance, who 



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209 



straightway disappeared. At the next meal the plate de- 
scended empty, and by itself, to the abbot's place in the 
refectory, proving that what the Saint sacrificed for his 
brethren had been accepted by Christ. At the moment of 
Kobert's death, in 1159, St. Godric, the hermit of Finchale, 
saw his soul, like a globe of fire, borne up by the angels in 
a pathway of light; and as the gates of heaven opened 
before them, a voice repeated twice, " Enter now, my 
friends/' 

Reflection. — Eeason and authority prove that virtue 
ought to be practised. But facts alone prove that it is 
practised; and this is why examples have more power to 
move our souls, and why our individual actions are of such 
fearful importance for others as well as for ourselves.. 

ST. CLAUDE, Archbishop. 

^\HE province of Eastern Burgundy received great lustre 
^/ from this glorious Saint. He was born at Salins, 
about the year 603, and was both the model and the oracle 
of the clergy of Besangon, when, upon the death of Arch- 
bishop Gervaise, about the year 683, he was chosen to be 
his successor. Fearing the obligations of that charge, he 
fled and hid himself, but was discovered and compelled to 
take it upon him. During seven years he acquitted him- 
self of the pastoral functions with the zeal and vigilance of 
an apostle; but finding then an opportunity of resigning 
his see, which, out of humility and love of solitude, he 
had always sought, he retired to the great monastery of 
St. Oyend, and there took the monastic habit, in 690. 
Violence was used to oblige him soon after to accept the 
abbatial dignity. Such was the sanctity of his life, and 
his zeal in conducting his monks in the paths of evangel- 
ical perfection, that he deserved to be compared to the 
Antonines and Pachomiuses, and his monastery to those of 
ancient Egypt. Manual labor, silence, prayer, reading of 
pious books, especially the Holy Bible, fasting, watching, 
humility, obedience, poverty, mortification, and the close 
union of their hearts with God, made up the whole occupa- 
tion of these fervent servants of God, and were the rich 



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[June 8 



patrimony which St. Claude left to his disciples. He died 
in 703. 



June 8.— ST. MEDARD, Bishop. 

T. Medard, one of the most illustrious prelates of the 
Church of France in the sixth century, was born of 
a pious and noble family, at Salency, about the year 457. 
Prom his childhood he evinced the most tender compas- 
sion for the poor. On one occasion he gave his coat to a 
destitute blind man, and when asked why he had done so, 
he answered that the misery of a fellow-member in Christ 
so affected him that he could not help giving him part of 
his own clothes. Being promoted to the priesthood in the 
thirty-third year of his age, he became a bright ornament 
of that sacred order. He preached the word of God with 
an unction which touched the hearts of the most hardened ; 
and the influence of his example, by which he enforced 
the precepts which he delivered from the pulpit, seemed 
irresistible. In 530, Alomer, the thirteenth bishop of that 
country, dying, St. Medard was unanimously chosen to fill 
the see, and was consecrated by St. Eemigius, who had 
baptized King Clovis in 496, and was then exceeding old. 
Our Saint's new dignity did not make him abate anything 
of his austerities, and, though at that time seventy-two 
years old, he thought himself obliged to redouble his la- 
bors. Though his diocese was very wide, it seemed not to 
suffice for his zeal, which could not be confined; wherever 
he saw the opportunity of advancing the honor of God, 
and of abolishing the remains of idolatry, he overcame all 
obstacles, and by his zealous labors and miracles the rays 
of the Gospel dispelled the mists of idolatry throughout 
the whole extent of his diocese. What rendered this task 
more difficult and perilous was the savage and fierce dis- 
position of the ancient inhabitants of Flanders, who were 
the most barbarous of all the nations of the Gauls and 
Franks. Our Saint, having completed this great work in 
Flanders, returned to Noyon, where he shortly after fell 
sick, and soon rested from his labors at an advanced age, 
in 545. The whole kingdom lamented his death as the 




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211 



loss of their common father and protector. His body was 
buried in his own cathedral, but the many miracles 
wrought at his tomb so moved King Clotaire that he trans- 
lated the precious remains to Soissons. 

Reflection. — The Church takes delight in styling her 
founder " The amiable Jesus/'' and He likewise says of 
Himself, " I am meek and humble of heart." 



June 9.— STS. PRIMUS and FELICIANUS, Martyrs. 

hese two martyrs were brothers, and lived in Rome, 
toward the latter part of the third century, for 
many years, mutually encouraging each other in the prac- 
tice of all good works. They seemed to possess nothing 
but for the poor, and often spent both nights and days 
with the confessors in their dungeons, or at the places of 
their torments and execution. Some they encouraged to 
perseverance, others, who had fallen, they raised again, 
and they made themselves the servants of all in Christ, 
that all might attain to salvation through Him. Though 
their zeal was most remarkable, they had escaped the 
dangers of many bloody persecutions, and were grown old 
in the heroic exercises of virtue, when it pleased God to 
crown their labors with a glorious martyrdom. The 
pagans raised so great an outcry against them that they 
were both apprehended and put in chains. They were in- 
humanly scourged, and then sent to a town twelve miles 
from Borne to be farther chastised, as avowed enemies to 
the gods. There they were cruelly tortured, first both to- 
gether, afterward separately. But the grace of God 
strengthened them, and they were at length both beheaded 
on the 9th of June. 

Reflection. — A soul which truly loves God regards all 
the things of this world as nothing. The loss of goods, the 
disgrace of the world, torments, sickness, and other afflic- 
tions are bitter to the senses, but appear light to him that 
loves. If we cannot bear our trials with patience and 
silence, it is because we love God only in words. " One 
who is slothful and lukewarm complains of everything, 




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LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



[June 9 



and calls the lightest precepts hard/' says Thomas a 
Kempis. 

ST. COLUMBA, or COLUMKILLE, Abbot. 

t. Columba, the apostle of the Picts, was born of a 
noble family, at Gartan, in the county of Tyrcon- 
nel, Ireland, in 521. From early childhood he gave himself 
to God. In all his labors — and they were many — his 
chief thought was heaven and how he should secure the way 
thither. The result was that he lay on the bare floor, with 
a stone for his pillow, and fasted all the year round; yet 
the sweetness of his countenance told of the holy soul's 
interior serenity. Though austere, he was not morose; 
and, often as he longed to die, he was untiring in good 
works, throughout his life. After he had been made 
abbot, his zeal offended King Dermot; and in 565 the 
Saint departed for Scotland, where he founded a hundred 
religious houses and converted the Picts, who in gratitude 
gave him the island of lona. There St. Columba founded 
his celebrated monastery, the school of apostolic mission- 
aries and martyrs, and for centuries the last resting-place 
of Saints and kings. Four years before his death, our 
Saint had a vision of angels, who told him that the day of 
his death had been deferred four years, in answer to the 
prayers of his children; whereat the Saint wept bitterly, 
and cried out, "Woe is me that my sojourning is pro- 
longed ! " for he desired above all things to reach his true 
home. How different is the conduct of most men, who 
dread death above everything, instead of wishing "to be 
dissolved, and to be with Christ"! On the day of his 
peaceful death, in the seventy-seventh year of his age, 
surrounded in choir by his spiritual children, the 9th of 
June, 597, he said to his disciple Diermit, "This day is 
called the Sabbath, that is, the day of rest, and such will 
it truly be to me; for it will put an end to my labors." 
Then, kneeling before the altar, he received the Viaticum, 
and sweetly slept in the Lord. His relics were carried to 
Down, and laid in the same shrine with the bodies of ' St. 
Patrick and St. Brigid. 




June 10] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



213 



Reflection. — The thought of the world to come will 
always make us happy, and yet strict with ourselves in all 
our duties. The more perfect we become, the sooner shall 
we behold that for which St. Columba sighed. 



June io.— ST. MARGARET OF SCOTLAND. 

% 

t. Margaret's name signifies "pearl;" "a fitting 
name/' says Theodoric, her confessor and her first 
biographer, "for one such as she." Her soul was like a 
precious pearl. A life spent amidst the luxury of a royal 
court never dimmed its lustre, or stole it away from Him 
who had bought it with His blood. She was the grand- 
daughter of an English king; and in 1070 she became the 
bride of Malcolm, and reigned Queen of Scotland till her 
death in 1093. How did she become a Saint in a position 
where sanctity is so difficult ? First, she burned with zeal 
for the house of God. She built churches and monasteries ; 
she busied herself in making vestments; she could not 
rest till she saw the laws of God and His Church observed 
throughout her realm. Next, amidst a thousand cares, 
she found time to converse with God — ordering her piety 
with such sweetness and discretion that she won her hus- 
band to sanctity like her own. He used to rise with her 
at night for prayer; he loved to kiss the holy books she 
used, and sometimes he would steal them away, and bring 
them back to his wife covered with jewels. Lastly, with 
virtues so great, she wept constantly over her sins, and 
begged her confessor to correct her faults. St. Margaret 
did not neglect her duties in the world because she was 
not of it. Never was a better mother. She spared no 
pains in the education of her eight children, and their 
sanctity was the fruit of her prudence and her zeal. 
Never was a better queen. She was the most trusted 
counsellor of her husband, and she labored for the material 
improvement of the country. But, in the midst of the 
world's pleasures, she sighed for the better country, and 
accepted death as a release. On her death-bed she re- 
ceived the news that her husband and her eldest son were 
slain in battle. She thanked God, Who had sent this last 




214 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[June 11 



affliction as a penance for her sins. After receiving Holy 
Viaticum, she was repeating the prayer from the Missal, 
" 0 Lord J esus Christ, Who by Thy death didst give life 
to the world, deliver me." At the words " deliver me," 
says her biographer, she took her departure to Christ, the 
Author of true liberty. 

Reflection. — All perfection consists in keeping a guard 
upon the heart. Wherever we are, we can make a solitude 
in our hearts, detach ourselves from the world, and con- 
verse familiarly with God. Let us take St. Margaret for 
our example and encouragement. 

June ii. — ST. BARNABAS, Apostle. 

E read that in the first days of the Church, "the 
multitude of believers had but one heart and one 
soul; neither did any one say that aught of the things 
which he possessed was his own." Of this fervent com- 
pany, one only is singled out by name, Joseph, a rich 
Levite, from Cyprus. " He having land sold it, and 
brought the price and laid it at the feet of the apostles." 
They now gave him a new name, Barnabas, the son of 
consolation. " He was a good man, full of the Holy Ghost 
and of faith, and was soon chosen for an important mission 
to the rapidly-growing Church of Antioch. Here he per- 
ceived the great work which was to be done among the 
Greeks, so he hastened to fetch St. Paul from his retire- 
ment at Tarsus. It was at Antioch that the two Saints 
were called to the apostolate of the Gentiles, and hence 
they set out together to Cyprus and the cities of Asia 
Minor. Their preaching struck men with amazement, and 
some cried out, " The gods are come down to us in the 
likeness of men," calling Paul Mercury, and Barnabas 
Jupiter. The Saints travelled together to the Council 
of Jerusalem, but shortly after this they parted. When 
Agabus prophesied a great famine, Barnabas, no longer 
rich, was chosen by the faithful at Antioch as most fit to 
bear, with St. Paul, their generous offerings to the Church 
of Jerusalem. The gentle Barnabas, keeping with him 
John, surnamed Mark, whom St. Paul distrusted, betook 




June 12] 



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215 



himself to Cyprus, where the sacred history leaves him; 
and here, at a later period, he won his martyr's crown. 

Reflection. — St. Barnabas's life is full of suggestions to 
us who live in days when once more the abundant alms of 
the faithful are sorely needed by the whole Church, from 
the Sovereign Pontiff to the poor children in our streets. 

June 12. — ST. JOHN OF ST. FAGONDEZ. 

/53[t. Joh^ was born at St. Fagondez, in Spain. At an 
HZJ early age he held several benefices in the diocese of 
Burgos, till the reproaches of his conscience forced him to 
resign them all except one chapel, where he said Mass daily, 
preached, and catechised. After this he studied theology 
at Salamanca, and then labored for some time as a most 
devoted missionary priest. Ultimately he became a her- 
mit of the Augustinian Order, in the same city. There his 
life was marked by a singular devotion to the Holy Mass. 
Each night after Matins he remained in prayer till the 
hour of celebration, when he offered the Adorable Sacrifice 
with the most tender piety, often enjoying the sight of 
Jesus in glory, and holding sweet colloquies with Him. 
The power of his personal holiness was seen in his preach- 
ings which produced a .complete reformation in Salamanca. 
He had a special gift of reconciling differences, and was 
enabled to put an end to the quarrels and feuds among 
noblemen, at that period very common and fatal. The 
boldness shown by St. John in reproving vice endangered 
his life. A powerful noble, having been corrected by the 
Saint for oppressing his vassals, sent two assassins to slay 
him. The holiness of the Saint's aspect, however, caused 
by that peace which continually reigned in his soul, struck 
such awe into their minds that they could not execute 
their purpose, but humbly besought his forgiveness. And 
the nobleman himself, falling sick, was brought to repent- 
ance, and recovered his health by the prayers of the Saint 
whom he had endeavored to murder. He was also most 
zealous in denouncing those hideous vices which are a 
fruitful source of strife, and it was in defence of holy 
purity that he met his death. A lady of noble birth but 



216 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



[June 13 



evil life, whose companion in sin St. John had converted, 
contrived to administer a fatal poison to the Saint. After 
several months of terrible suffering, borne with unvarying 
patience, St. John went to his reward on June 11, 1479. 

Reflection. — All men desire peace, but those alone enjoy 
it who, like St. John, are completely dead to themselves, 
and love to bear all things for Christ. 

June 13.— ST. ANTONY OF PADUA. 

X* 1221 St. Francis held a general chapter at Assisi ; 
when the others dispersed, there lingered behind, un- 
known and neglected, a poor Portuguese friar, resolved to 
ask for and to refuse nothing. Nine months later, Fra 
Antonio rose under obedience to preach to the religious 
assembled at Forli, when, as the discourse proceeded, " the 
Hammer of Heretics," " the Ark of the Testament," a the 
eldest son of St. Francis," stood revealed in all his sanctity, 
learning, and eloquence before his rapt and astonished 
brethren. Devoted from earliest youth to prayer and study 
among the Canons Eegular, Ferdinand de Bulloens, as his 
name was in the world, had been stirred, by the spirit and 
example of the first five Franciscan martyrs, to put on their 
habit and preach the Faith to the Moors in Africa. De- 
nied a martyr's palm, and enfeebled by sickness, at the age 
of twenty-seven he was taking silent but merciless revenge 
upon himself in the humblest offices of his community. 
From this obscurity he was now called forth, and for nine 
years France, Italy, and Sicily heard his voice, saw his 
miracles, and men's hearts turned to God. One night, 
when St. Antony was staying with a friend in the city of 
Padua, his host saw brilliant rays streaming under the 
door of the Saint's room, and on looking through the key- 
hole he beheld a little Child of marvellous beauty standing 
upon a book which lay open upon the table, and clinging 
with both arms round Antony's neck. With an ineffable 
sweetness he watched the tender caresses of the Saint and 
his wondrous Visitor. At last the Child vanished, and 
Fra Antonio, opening the door, charged his friend, by the 
love of Him Whom he had seen, to " tell the vision to no 



June 14] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



217 



man" as long as he was alive. Suddenly, in 1231, our 
Saint's brief apostolate was closed, and the voices of chil- 
dren were heard crying along the streets of Padua, " Our 
father, St. Antony, is dead." The following year, the 
church-bells of Lisbon rang without ringers, while at Borne 
one of its sons was inscribed among the Saints of God. 

Reflection. — Let us love td pray and labor unseen, and 
cherish in the secret of our hearts the graces of God and 
the growth of our immortal souls. Like St. Antony, let 
us attend to this, and leave the rest to God. 

June 14.— ST. BASIL THE GREAT. 

/55fT. Basil was born in Asia Minor. Two of his brothers 
55-/ became bishops, and, together with his mother and 
sister, are honored as Saints. He studied with great suc- 
cess at Athens, where he formed with St. Gregory Nazian- 
zen the most tender friendship. He then taught oratory; 
but dreading the honors of the world, he gave up all, and 
became the father of the monastic life in the East. The 
Arian heretics, supported by the court, were then perse- 
cuting the Church; and Basil was summoned from his 
retirement by his bishop to give aid against them. His 
energy and zeal soon mitigated the disorders of the Church, 
and his solid and eloquent words silenced the heretics. On 
the death of Eusebius, he was chosen Bishop of Csesarea. 
His commanding character, his firmness and energy, his 
learning and eloquence, and not less his humility and the 
exceeding austerity of his life, made him a model for 
bishops. When St. Basil was required to admit the Arians 
to Communion, the prefect, finding that soft words had no 
effect, said to him, " Are you mad, that you resist the will 
before which the whole world bows ? Do you not dread 
the wrath of the emperor, nor exile, nor death ? " " No," 
said Basil calmly; "he who has nothing to lose need not 
dread loss of goods; you cannot exile me, for the whole 
earth is my home; as for death, it would be the greatest 
kindness you could bestow upon me; torments cannot 
harm me : one blow would end my frail life and my suffer- 
ings together." "Never," said the prefect, "has any one 



218 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[June 15 



dared to address me thus/' cc Perhaps/' suggested Basil, 
"you never before measured your strength with a Chris- 
tian bishop/' The emperor desisted from his commands. 
St. Basil's whole life was one of suffering. He lived amid 
jealousies and misunderstandings and seeming disappoint- 
ments. But he sowed the seed which bore goodly fruit in 
the next generation, and was God's instrument in beating 
back the Arian and other heretics in the East, and restor- 
ing the spirit of discipline and fervor in the Church. He 
died in 379, and is venerated as a Doctor of the Church. 

Reflection. — " Fear God," says the Imitation of Christ, 
" and thou shalt have no need of being afraid of any 
man." 

June 15.— STS. VITUS, CRESCENTIA, and MO- 
DESTUS, Martyrs. 

Vitus was a child nobly born, who had the happiness to 
be instructed in the Faith, and inspired with the 
most perfect sentiments of his religion, by his Christian 
nurse, named Crescentia, and her faithful husband, Modes- 
tus. His father, Hylas, was extremely incensed when he 
discovered the child's invincible aversion to idolatry; and 
finding him not to be overcome by stripes and such like 
chastisements, he delivered him up to Valerian, the gov- 
ernor, who in vain tried all his arts to work him into com- 
pliance with his father's will and the emperor's edicts. He 
escaped out of their hands, and, together with Crescentia 
and Modestus, fled into Italy. They there met with the 
crown of martyrdom in Lucania, in the persecution of 
Diocletian. The heroic spirit of martyrdom which we 
admire in St. Vitus was owing to the early impressions of 
piety which he received from the lessons and example of a 
virtuous nurse. Of such infinite importance is the choice 
of virtuous preceptors, nurses, and servants about children. 

Reflection. — What happiness for an infant to be formed 
naturally to all virtue, and for the spirit of simplicity, 
meekness, goodness, and piety to be moulded in its tender 
frame ! Such a foundation being well laid, further graces 



June 16] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



219 



are abundantly communicated, and a soul improves daily 
these seeds, and rises to the height of Christian virtue often 
without experiencing severe conflicts of the passions. 

June 1 6. — ST- JOHN FRANCIS REGIS. 

flSSfT. John Francis Eegis was born in Languedoe, in 
TSZs 1597. From his tenderest years he showed evi- 
dences of uncommon sanctity by his innocence of life, 
modesty, and love of prayer. At the age of eighteen he 
entered the Society of Jesus. As soon as his studies were 
over, he gave himself entirely to the salvation of souls. 
The winter he spent in country missions, principally in 
mountainous districts; and in spite of the rigor of the 
weather and the ignorance and roughness of the inhabi- 
tants, he labored with such/ success that he gained in- 
numerable souls to God both' from heresy and from a bad 
life. The summer he gave to the towns. There his time 
was taken up in visiting hospitals and prisons, in preach- 
ing and instructing, and in assisting all who in any way 
stood in need of his services. In his works of mercy God 
often helped him by miracles. In November, 1637, the 
Saint set out for his second, mission at Marthes. His road 
lay across valleys filled with snow and over mountains 
frozen and precipitous. In climbing one of the highest, 
a bush to which he was- clinging gave way, and he broke 
his leg in the fall. By the help of his companion he 
accomplished the remaining six miles, and then, instead 
of seeing a surgeon, insisted on being taken straight to 
the confessional. There, after several hours, the curate 
of the parish found him still seated, and when his leg was 
examined the fracture was found to be miraculously healed. 
He was s© inflamed with the love of God that he seemed to 
breathe, think, speak of that alone, and he offered up the 
Holy Sacrifice with suoh attention and fervor that those 
^ho assisted at it could not but feel something of the fire 
with which he burned. After twelve years of unceasing 
labor, he rendered his pure and innocent soul to his 
Creator, at the age of forty-four.^ 



220 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [June 17 



Reflection. — When St. John Francis was struck in the 
face by a sinner whom he was reproving, he replied, a If 
yon only knew me, you would give me much more than 
that." His meekness converted the man, and it is in this 
spirit that he teaches us to win souls to God. How much 
might we do if we could forget our own wants in remem- 
bering those of others, and put our trust in God ! 

June 17.— ST. AVITUS, Abbot 

t. Avitus was a native of Orleans, and, retiring into 
Auvergne, took the monastic habit, together with 
St. Calais, in the abbey of Menat, at that time very small, 
though afterward enriched by Queen Brunehault, and by 
St. Boner, Bishop of Clermont. The two Saints soon after 
returned to Miscy, a famous abbey situated a league and a 
half below Orleans. It was founded toward the end of the 
reign of Clovis I. by St. Euspicius, a holy priest, honored 
on the 14th of June, and his nephew St. Maximin or Mes- 
nim, whose name this monastery, which is now of the 
Cistercian Order, bears. Many call St. Maximin the first 
abbot, others St. Euspicius the first, St. Maximin the sec- 
ond, and St. Avitus the third. But our Saint and St. 
Calais made not a long stay at Miscy, though St. Maximin 
gave them a gracious reception. In quest of a closer re- 
tirement, St. Avitus, who had succeeded St. Maximin, soon 
after resigned the abbacy, and with St. Calais lived a 
recluse in the territory now called Dunois, on the frontiers 
of La Perche. Others joining them, St. Calais retired 
into a forest in Maine, and King Clotaire built a church 
and monastery for St. Avitus and his companions. This 
is at present a Benedictine nunnery, called St. Avy of 
Chateaudun, and is situated on the Loire, at the foot of 
the hill on which the town of Chateaudun is built, in the 
diocese of Chartres. Three famous monks, Leobin, after- 
wards Bishop of Chartres, Euphronius, and Eusticus, 
attended our Saint to his happy death, which happened 
about the year 530. His body was carried to Orleans, and 
buried with great pomp in that city. 




June 18] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



221 



June 18.— STS. MARCUS and MARCELLIANUS, 

Martyrs. 

yi^ARCUS and Marcellianus were twin brothers of an 
illustrious family in Rome, who had been converted 
to the Faith in their youth and were honorably married. 
Diocletian ascending the imperial throne in 284, the 
heathens raised persecutions. These martyrs were thrown 
into prison, and condemned to be beheaded. Their friends 
obtained a respite of the execution for thirty days, that 
they might prevail on them to worship the false gods. 
Tranquillinus and Martia, their afflicted heathen parents, 
in company with their sons' own wives and their little 
babes, endeavored to move them by the most tender en- 
treaties and tears. St. Sebastian, an officer of the em- 
peror's household, coming to Eome soon after their 
commitment, daily visited and encouraged them. The 
issue of the conferences was the happy conversion of the 
father, mother, and wives, also of Mcostratus, the public 
register, and soon after of Chromatius, the judge, who set 
the Saints at liberty, and, abdicating the magistracy, re- 
tired into the country. Marcus and Marcellianus were 
hid by a Christian officer of the household in his apart- 
ments in the palace; but they were betrayed hj an 
apostate, and retaken. Fabian, who had succeeded 
Chromatius, condemned them to be bound to two pillars, 
with their feet nailed to the same. In this posture they 
remained a day and a night, and on the following day 
were stabbed with lances. 

Reflection. — We know not what we are till we have 
been tried. It costs nothing to say we love God above all 
things, and to show the courage of martyrs at a distance 
from the danger; but that love is sincere which has stood 
the proof. " Persecution shows who is a hireling, and 
who a true pastor/' says St. Bernard. 



222 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[June 19 



June 19. — ST. JULIANA FALCONIERL 

^"Tuliaka Falconieri was born in answer to prayer, in 
V-A 1270. Her father built the splendid church of the 
Annunziata in Florence, while her uncle, Blessed Alexins, 
became one of the founders of the Servite Order. Under 
his care Juliana grew up, as he said, more like an angel 
than a human being. Such was her modesty that she 
never used a mirror or gazed upon the face of a man dur- 
ing her whole life. The mere mention of sin made her 
shudder and tremble, and once hearing a scandal related 
she fell into a dead swoon. Her devotion to the sorrows 
of Our Lady drew her to the Servants of Mary ; and, at the 
age of fourteen, she refused an offer of marriage, and re- 
ceived the habit from St. Philip Benizi himself. Her 
sanctity attracted many novices, for whose direction she 
was bidden to draw up a rule, and thus with reluctance she 
became foundress of the " Mantellate." She was with her 
children as their servant rather than their mistress, while 
outside her convent she led a life of apostolic charity, con- 
verting sinners, reconciling enemies, and healing the sick 
by sucking with her own lips their ulcerous sores. She 
was sometimes rapt for whole days in ecstasy, and her 
prayers saved the Servite Order when it was in danger of 
Being suppressed. She was visited in her last hour by 
angels in the form of white doves, and Jesus Himself, as a 
beautiful child, crowned her with a garland of flowers. 
She wasted away through a disease of the stomach, which 
prevented her taking food. She bore her silent agony with 
constant cheerfulness, grieving only for the privation of 
Holy Communion. At last, when, in her seventieth year, 
she had sunk to the point of death, she begged to be al- 
lowed once more to see and adore the Blessed Sacrament. 
It was brought to her cell, and reverently laid on a corporal, 
which was placed over her heart. At this moment she 
expired, and the Sacred Host disappeared. After her 
death the form of the Host was found stamped upon her 
heart in the exact spot over which the Blessed Sacrament 
had been placed. Juliana died A. D. 1340. 



June 20] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



223 



Reflection.— " Meditate often," says St. Paul of the 
Cross, " on the sorrows of the holy Mother, sorrows in- 
separable from those of her beloved Son. If yon seek the 
Cross, there yon will find the Mother; and where the 
Mother is, there also is the Son." 



June 20.— ST. SILVERIUS, Pope and Martyr. 

ilverius was son of Pope Hermisdas, who had been 
married before he entered the ministry. Upon the 
death of St. Agapetas, after a vacancy of forty-seven days, 
Silverius, then subdeacon, was chosen Pope, and ordained 
on the 8th of June, 536. 

Theodora, the empress of Justinian, resolved to promote 
the sect of the Acephali. She endeavored to win Silverius 
over to her interest, and wrote to him, ordering that he 
should acknowledge Anthimus lawful bishop, or repair in 
person to Constantinople and reexamine his cause on the 
spot. Without the least hesitation or delay, Silverius re- 
turned her a short answer, by which he peremptorily gave 
her to understand that he neither could nor would obey her 
unjust demands and betray the cause of the Catholic faith. 
The empress, finding that she could expect nothing from 
him, resolved to have him deposed. Vigilius, archdeacon 
of the Eoman Church, a man of address, was then at Con- 
stantinople. To him the empress made her application, 
and finding him taken by the bait of ambition, promised 
to make him Pope, and to bestow on him seven hundred 
pieces of gold, provided he would engage himself to con- 
demn the Council of Chalcedon and receive to Communion 
the three deposed Eutychian patriarchs, Anthimus of Con- 
stantinople, Severus of Antioch, and Theodosius of Alexan- 
dria. The unhappy Vigilius having assented to these con- 
ditions, the empress sent him to Rome, charged, with a 
letter to the general Belisarius, commanding him to drive 
out Silverius and to contrive the election of Vigilius to the 
pontificate. Vigilius urged the general to execute the proj- 
ect. The more easily to carry out this project the Pope 
was accused of corresponding with the enemy and a letter 
was produced which was pretended to have been written 




224 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[June 21 



by him to the king of the Goths, inviting him into the city, 
and promising to open the gates to him. Silverius was 
banished to Patara in Lycia. The bishop of that city 
received the illustrious exile with all possible marks of 
honor and respect; and thinking himself bound to under- 
take his defence, repaired to Constantinople, and spoke 
boldly to the emperor, terrifying him with the threats of 
the divine judgments for the expulsion of a bishop of so 
great a see, telling him, " There are many kings in the 
world, but there is only one Pope over the Church of the 
whole world." It must be observed that these were the 
words of an Oriental bishop, and a clear confession of the 
supremacy of the Roman See. Justinian appeared startled 
at the atrocity of the proceedings, and gave orders that 
Silverius should be sent back to Kome, but the enemies of 
the Pope contrived to prevent it, and he was intercepted on 
his road toward Eome and carried to a desert island, where 
he died on the 20th of June, 538. 



June 21. — ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA. 

loysius, the eldest son of Ferdinand Gonzaga, 
Marquis of Castiglione, was born on the 9th of 
March, 1568. The first words he pronounced were the holy 
names of Jesus and Mary. When he was nine years of age 
he made a vow of perpetual virginity, and by a special 
grace was ever exempted from temptations against purity. 
He received his first Communion at the hands of St. 
Charles Borromeo. At an early age he resolved to leave 
the world, and in a vision was directed by our blessed Lady 
to join the Society of Jesus. The Saint's mother rejoiced 
on learning his determination to become a religious, but his 
father for three years refused his consent. At length St. 
Aloysius obtained permission to enter the novitiate on the 
25th of November, 1585. He took his vows after two 
years, and went through the ordinary course of philosophy 
and theology. He was wont to say he doubted whether 
without penance grace would continue to make head against 
nature, which, when not afflicted and chastised, tends grad- 
ually to relapse into its old state, losing the habit of suffer- 




June 22] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



225 



ing acquired by the labor of years. "lama crooked piece 
of iron/' lie said, u and am come into religion to be made 
straight by the hammer of mortification and penance." 
During his last year of theology a malignant fever broke 
out in Home; the Saint offered himself for the service of 
the sick, and he was accepted for the dangerous duty. 
Several of the brothers caught the fever, and Aloysius was 
of the number. He was brought to the point of death, but 
recovered, only to fall, however, into slow fever, which 
carried him off after three months. He died, repeating the 
Holy Name, a little after midnight between the 20th and 
21st of June, on the octave-day of Corpus Christi, being 
rather more than twenty-three years of age. 

Reflection. — Cardinal Bellarmine, the Saint's confessor, 
testified that he had never mortally offended God. Yet he 
chastised his body rigorously, rose at night to pray, and 
shed many tears for his sins. Pray that, not having fol- 
lowed his innocence, you may yet imitate his penance. 

June 22. — ST. PAULINUS OF NOLA. 

Qaulinus was of a family which boasted of a long line 
of senators, prefects, and consuls. He was educated 
with great care, and his genius and eloquence, in prose 
and verse, were the admiration of St. Jerome and St. Au- 
gustine. He had more than doubled his wealth by mar- 
riage, and was one of the foremost men of his time. 
Though he was the chosen friend of Saints, and had a great 
devotion to St. Felix of Nola, he was still only a catechu- 
men, trying to serve two masters. But God drew him to 
Himself along the way of sorrows and trials. He received 
baptism, withdrew into Spain to be alone, and then, in 
consort with his holy wife, sold all their vast estates in 
various parts of the empire, distributing their proceeds 
so prudently that St. Jerome says East and West were filled 
with his alms. He was then ordained priest, and retired to 
Kola in Campania. There he rebuilt the Church of St. 
Felix with great magnificence, and served it night and day, 
living a life of extreme abstinence and toil. In 409 he was 
chosen bishop, and for more than thirty years so ruled as to 



226 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[June 23 



be conspicuous in an age blessed with many great and wise 
bishops. St. Gregory the Great tells us that when the 
Vandals of Africa had made a descent on Campania, Pau- 
linus spent all he had in relieving the distress of his people 
and redeeming them from slavery. At last there came a 
poor widow; her only son had been carried off by the son- 
in-law of the Vandal king. " Such as I have I give thee," 
said the Saint to her; "we will go to Africa, and I .will 
give myself for your son." Having overborne her resist- 
ance, they went, and Paulinus was accepted in place of the 
widow's son, and employed as gardener. After a time the 
king found out, by divine interposition, that his son-in- 
law's slave was the great Bishop of Nola. He at once set 
him free, granting him also the freedom of all the towns- 
men of Nola who were in slavery. One who knew him well 
says he was meek as Moses, priestlike as Aaron, innocent 
as Samuel, tender as David, wise as Solomon, apostolic as 
Peter, loving as John, cautious as Thomas, keen-sighted as 
Stephen, fervent as Apollos. He died in 431. 

Reflection. — " Go to Campania," writes St. Augustine ; 
" there study Paulinus, that choice servant of God. With 
what generosity, with what still greater humility, he has 
flung from him the burden of this world's grandeurs to 
take on him the yoke of Christ, and in His service how 
serene and unobtrusive his life ! " 

June 23. — ST. ETHELDREDA, Abbess. 

orn and brought up in the fear of God — her mother 
and three sisters are numbered among the Saints — 
Etheldreda had but one aim in life, to devote herself to His 
service in the religious state. Her parents, however, had 
other views for her, and, in spite of her tears and prayers, 
she was compelled to become the wife of Tonbercht, a trib- 
utary of the Mercian king. She lived with him as a virgin 
for three years, and at his death retired to the isle of Ely, 
that she might apply herself wholly to heavenly things. 
This happiness was but short-lived; for Egfrid, the power- 
ful King of Northumbria, pressed his suit upon her with 
such eagerness that she was forced into a second marriage. 




June 24] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



227 



Her life at his court was that of an ascetic rather than a 
queen: she lived with him not as a wife, but as a sister, 
and, observing a scrupulous regularity of discipline, devoted 
her time to works of mercy and love. After twelve years, 
she retired with her husband's consent to Coldingham 
Abbey, which was then under the rule of St. Ebba, and 
received the veil from the hands of St. Wilfrid. As soon 
as Etheldreda had left the court of her husband, he re- 
pented of having consented to her departure, and followed 
her, meaning to bring her back by force. She took refuge 
on a headland on the coast near Coldingham; and here a 
miracle took place, for the waters forced themselves a pas- 
sage round the hill, barring the further advance of Egfrid. 
The Saint remained on this island refuge for seven days, 
till the king, recognizing the divine will, agreed to leave her 
in peace. God, Who by a miracle confirmed the Saint's 
vocation, will not fail us if, with a single heart, we elect 
for Him. In 672 she returned to Ely, and founded there a 
double monastery. The nunnery she governed herself, and 
was by her example a living rule of perfection to her sisters. 
Some time after her death, in 679, her body was found 
incorrupt, and St. Bede records many miracles worked by 
her relics. 

Reflection. — The soul cannot truly serve God while it is 
involved in the distractions and pleasures of the world. 
Etheldreda knew this, and chose rather to be a servant of 
Christ her Lord than the mistress of an earthly court. 
Eesolve, in whatever state you are, to live absolutely de- 
tached from the world, and to separate yourself as much as 
possible from it. 



June 24.— ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, 

^(he birth of St. John was foretold by an angel of the 
Lord to his father, Zachary, who was offering in- 
cense in the Temple. It was the office of St. John to pre- 
pare the way for Christ, and before he was born into the 
world he began to live for the Incarnate God. Even in the 
womb he knew the presence of Jesus and of Mary, and he 
leaped with joy at the glad coming of the Son of man. In 



228 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [June 24 



his youth he remained hidden, because He for Whom he 
waited was hidden also. But before Christ's public life 
began, a divine impulse led St. John into the desert ; there, 
with locusts for his food and haircloth on his skin, in si- 
lence and in prayer, he chastened his own soul. Then, as 
crowds broke in upon his solitude, he warned them to flee 
from the wrath to come, and gave them the baptism of 
penance, while they confessed their sins. At last there 
stood in the crowd One Whom St. J ohn did not know, till a 
voice within told him that it was his Lord. With the bap- 
tism of St. John, Christ began His penance for the sins of 
His people, and St. John saw the Holy Ghost descend in 
bodily form upon Him. Then the Saint's work was done. 
He had but to point his own disciples to the Lamb, he had 
but to decrease as Christ increased. He saw all men leave 
him and go after Christ. " I told you/' he said, " that I 
am not the Christ. The friend of the Bridegroom rejoiceth 
because of the Bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore 
is fulfilled." St. John had been cast into the fortress of 
Machserus by a worthless tyrant whose crimes he had re- 
buked, and he was to remain there till he was beheaded, at 
the will of a girl who danced before this wretched king. 
In this time of despair, if St. John could have known de- 
spair, some of his old disciples visited him. St. John did 
not speak to them of himself, but he seiit them to Christ, 
that they might see the proofs of His mission. Then the 
Eternal Truth pronounced the panegyric of the Saint who 
had lived and breathed for Him alone: "Verily I say 
unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath 
not risen a greater than John the Baptist/' 

Reflection. — St. John was great before God because he 
forgot himself and lived for Jesus Christ, Who is the source 
of all greatness. Bemember that you are nothing; your 
own will and your own desires can only lead to misery and 
sin. Therefore sacrifice every day some one of your natural 
inclinations to the Sacred Heart of Our Lord, and learn 
little by little to lose yourself in Him. 



June 25] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



229 



June 25.— ST. PROSPER OF AQUITAINE. — ST. 
WILLIAM OF MONTE-VERGINE. 

|#5S[t. Prosper was born at Aquitaine, in the year 403. 
jtOZs His works show that in his youth he had happily 
applied himself to all the branches both of polite and sacred 
learning. On account of the purity and sanctity of his 
manners, he is called by those of his age a holy and vener- 
able man. Our Saint does not appear to have been any 
more than a layman; but being of great virtue, and of 
extraordinary talents and learning, he wrote several works 
in which he ably refuted the errors of heresy. St. Leo the 
Great, being chosen Pope in 440, invited St. Prosper to 
Borne, made him his secretary, and employed him in the 
most important affairs of the Church. Our Saint crushed 
the Pelagian heresy, which began again to raise its head in 
that capital, and its final overthrow is said to be due to 
his zeal, learning, and unwearied endeavors. The date of 
his death is uncertain, but he was still living in 463. 

St. William, having lost his father and mother in his 
infancy, was brought up by his friends in great sentiments 
of piety; and at fifteen years of age, out of an earnest 
desire to lead a penitential life, he left Piedmont, his native 
country, made an austere pilgrimage to St. James's in 
Galicia, and afterward retired into the kingdom of Xaples, 
where he chose for his abode a desert mountain, and lived 
in perpetual contemplation and the exercises of most rigor- 
ous penitential austerities. Finding himself discovered 
and his contemplation interrupted, he changed his habita- 
tion and settled in a place called Monte- Vergine, situated 
between Nola and Benevento, in the same kingdom ; but his 
reputation followed him, and he was obliged by two neigh- 
boring priests to permit certain fervent persons to live with 
him and to imitate his ascetic practices. Thus, in 1119, 
was laid the foundation of the religious congregation called 
de Monte-Vergine. The Saint died on the 25th of June, 
1142. 



230 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [June 27 



June 26.— STS. JOHN AND PAUL, Martyrs. 

hese two Saints were both officers in the army under 
Julian the Apostate, and received the crown of 
martyrdom, probably in 362. They glorified God by a 
double victory; they despised the honors of the world, and 
triumphed over its threats and torments. They saw many 
wicked men prosper in their impiety, but were not dazzled 
by their example. They considered that worldly prosperity 
which attends impunity in sin is the most dreadful of all 
judgments ; and how false and short-lived was this glitter- 
ing prosperity of Julian, who in a moment fell into the pit 
which he himself had dug! But the martyrs, by the mo- 
mentary labor of their conflict, purchased an immense 
weight of never-fading glory ; their torments were, by their 
heroic patience and invincible virtue and fidelity, a spec- 
tacle worthy of God, Who looked down upon them from the 
throne of His glory, and held His arm stretched out to 
strengthen them, and to put on their heads immortal 
crowns in the happy moment of their victory. 

Reflection. — The Saints always accounted that they had 
done nothing for Christ so long as they had not resisted to 
blood, and by pouring forth the last drop completed their 
sacrifice. Every action of our lives ought to spring from 
this fervent motive, and we should consecrate ourselves to 
the divine service with our whole strength; we must 
always bear in mind that we owe to God all that we are, 
and, after all we can do, are unprofitable servants, and do 
only what we are bound to do. 

June 27. — ST. LADISLAS, King. 

Hadislas the First, son of Bela, King of Hungary, was 
born in 1041. By the pertinacious importunity of 
the people he was compelled, much against his own inclina- 
tion, to ascend the throne, in 1080. He restored the good 
laws and discipline which St. Stephen had established, and 
which seem to have been obliterated by the confusion of 
the times. Chastity, meekness, gravity, charity, and piety 




June 28] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



231 



were from his infancy the distinguishing parts of his char- 
acter; avarice and ambition were his sovereign aversion, 
so perfectly had the maxims of the Gospel extinguished, in 
him all propensity to those base passions. His life in the 
palace was most austere; he was frugal and abstemious, 
but most liberal to the Church and the poor. Vanity, 
pleasure, or idle amusements had no share in his actions or 
time, because all his moments were consecrated to the 
exercises of religion and the duties of his station, in which 
he had only the divine will in view, and sought only God's 
greater honor. He watched over a strict and impartial 
administration of justice, was generous and merciful to 
his enemies, and vigorous in the defence of his country and 
the Church. He drove the Huns out of his territories, and 
vanquished the Poles, Eussians, and Tartars. He was pre- 
paring to command, as general-in-chief, the great expedi- 
tion of the Christians against the Saracens for the recovery 
of the Holy Land, when God called him to Himself, on the 
30th of July, 1095. 

Reflection. — The Saints filled ail their moments with 
good works and great actions ; and, whilst they labored for 
an immortal crown, the greatest share of worldly happiness 
of which this life is capable fell in their way without being 
even looked for by them. In their afflictions themselves 
virtue afforded them the most solid comfort, pointed out 
the remedy, and converted their tribulations into the great- 
est advantages. 

June 28.— ST. IRENiEUS, Bishop, Martyr. 

I^Khis Saint was born about the year 120. He was a 
Grecian, probably a native of Lesser Asia. His 
parents, who were Christians, placed him under the care of 
the great St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. It was in so 
holy a school that he learned that sacred science which 
rendered him afterward a great ornament of the Church 
and the terror of her enemies. St. Polycarp cultivated his 
rising genius, and formed his mind to piety by precepts 
and example; and the zealous scholar was careful to reap 
all the advantages which were offered him by the happi- 



232 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



[June 29 



ness of such a master. Such was his veneration for his 
tutor's sanctity that he observed every action and whatever 
he saw in that holy man, the better to copy his example 
and learn his spirit. He listened to his instructions with 
an insatiable ardor, and so deeply did he engrave them on 
his heart that the impressions remained most lively even to 
his old age. In order to confute the heresies of his age, 
this father made himself acquainted with the most absurd 
conceits of their philosophers, by which means he was 
qualified to trace up every error to its sources and set it in 
its full light. St. Polycarp sent St. Irenaeus into Gaul, in 
company with some priest ; he was himself ordained priest 
of the Church of Lyons by St. Pothinus. St. Pothinus 
having glorified God by his happy death, in the year 177, 
our Saint was chosen the second Bishop of Lyons. By his 
preaching, he in a short time converted almost that whole 
country to the Faith. He wrote several works against 
heresy, and at last, with many others, suffered martyrdom 
about the year 202, under the Emperor Severus, at Lyons. 

Reflection. — Fathers and mothers, and heads of fami- 
lies, spiritual and temporal, should bear in mind that in- 
feriors "will not be corrected by words " alone, but that 
example is likewise needful. 

June 29. — ST. PETER, Apostle. 

Qeter was of Bethsaida in Galilee, and as he was fish- 
ing on the lake was called by Our Lord to be one of 
His apostles. He was poor and unlearned, but candid, 
eager, and loving. In his heart, first of all, grew up the 
conviction, and from his lips came the confession, " Thou 
art the Christ, the Son of the living God ; " and so Our 
Lord chose him, and fitted him to be the Eock of His 
Church, His Vicar on earth, the head and prince of His 
apostles, the centre and very principle of the Church's one- 
ness, the source of all spiritual powers, and the unerring 
teacher of His truth. All Scripture is alive with him; but 
after Pentecost he stands out in the full grandeur of his 
office. He fills the vacant apostolic throne; admits the 
Jews by thousands into the fold; opens it to the Gentiles 



June 30] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



233 



in the person of Cornelius; founds, and for a time rules, 
the Church at Antioch, and sends Mark to found that of 
Alexandria. Ten years after the Ascension he went to 
Eome, the centre of the majestic Eoman Empire, where 
were gathered the glories and the wealth of the earth and all 
the powers of evil. There he established his Chair, and for 
twenty-five years labored with St. Paul in building up the 
great Eoman Church. He was crucified by order of Nero, 
and buried on the Vatican Hill. He wrote two Epistles, 
and suggested and approved the Gospel of St. Mark. Two 
hundred and sixty years after St. Peter's martyrdom came 
the open triumph of the Church. Pope St. Sylvester, with 
bishops and clergy and the whole body of the faithful, went 
through Eome in procession to the Vatican Hill, singing 
the praises of Cod till the seven hills rang again. The 
first Christian emperor, laying aside his diadem and his 
robes of state, began to dig the foundations of St. Peter's 
Church. And now on the site of that old church stands 
the noblest temple ever raised by man; beneath a tower- 
ing canopy lie the great apostles, in death, as in life, un- 
divided; and there is the Chair of St. Peter. All around 
rest the martyrs of Christ — Popes, Saints, Doctors, from 
east and west — and high over all, the words, " Thou art 
Peter, and on this Eock I will build My Church." It is 
the threshold of the apostles and the centre of the world. 

Reflection. — Peter still lives on in his successors, and 
rules and feeds the flock committed to him. The reality of 
our devotion to him is the surest test of the purity of our 
faith. 

June 30.— ST. PAUL. 

t. Paul was born at Tarsus, of Jewish parents, and 
studied at Jerusalem, at the feet of Gamaliel. 
While still a young man, he held the clothes of those who 
stoned the proto-martyr Stephen; and in his restless zeal 
he pressed on to Damascus, "breathing out threatenings 
and slaughter against the disciples of Christ." But near 
Damascus a light from heaven struck him to the earth. He 
heard a voice which said, " Why persecutest thou Me ? 99 
He saw the form of Him Who had been crucified for his 




234 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[July 1 



sins,, and then for three days he saw nothing more. He 
awoke from his trance another man — a new creature in 
Jesus Christ. He left Damascus for a long retreat in 
Arabia, and then, at the call of God, he carried the Gospel 
to the uttermost limits of the world, and for years he lived 
and labored with no thought but the thought of Christ 
crucified, no desire but to spend and be spent for Him. He 
became the apostle of the Gentiles, whom he had been 
taught to hate, and wished himself anathema for his own 
countrymen, who sought his life. Perils by land and sea 
could not damp his courage, nor toil and suffering and age 
dull the tenderness of his heart. At last he gave blood for 
blood. In his youth he had imbibed the false zeal of the 
Pharisees at Jerusalem, the holy city of the former dis- 
pensation. With St. Peter he consecrated Eome, our holy 
city, by his martyrdom, and poured into its Church all his 
doctrine with all his blood. He left fourteen Epistles, 
which have been a fountain-head of the Church's doctrine, 
the consolation and delight of her greatest Saints. His in- 
terior life, so far as words can tell it, lies open before us in 
these divine writings, the life of one who has died forever 
to himself and risen again in Jesus Christ. " In what/' 
says St. Chrysostom, cc in what did this blessed one gain an 
advantage over the other apostles ? How comes it that he 
lives in all men's mouths throughout the world ? Is it not 
through the virtue of his Epistles?" Nor will his work 
cease while the race of man continues. Even now, like a 
most chivalrous knight, he stands in our midst, and takes 
captive every thought to the obedience of Christ. 

Reflection. — St. Paul complains that all seek the things 
which are their own, and not the things which are Christ's. 
See if these words apply to you, and resolve to give your- 
self without reserve to God. 

July i.— ST. GAL, Bishop. 

t. Gal was born at Clermont in Auvergne, about the 
year 489. His father was of the first houses of that 
province, and his mother was descended from the family of 
Vettius Apagatus, the celebrated Eoman who suffered at 




JXXLY 2] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



235 



Lyons for the faith of Christ. They both took special care 
of the education of their son, and, when he arrived at a 
proper age, proposed to have him married to the daughter 
of a respectable senator. The Saint, who had taken a reso- 
lution to consecrate himself to God, withdrew privately 
from his fathers house to the monastery of Cournon, near 
the city of Auvergne, and earnestly prayed to be admitted 
there amongst the monks; and having soon after obtained 
the consent of his parents, he with joy renounced all 
worldly vanities to embrace religious poverty. Here his 
eminent virtues distinguished him in a particular manner, 
and recommended him to Quintianus, Bishop of Auvergne, 
who promoted him to holy orders. The bishop dying in 
527, St. Gal was appointed to succeed him, and in this new 
character his humility, charity, and zeal were conspicuous ; 
above all, his patience in bearing injuries. Being once 
struck on the head by a brutal man, he discovered not the 
least emotion of anger or resentment, and by this meekness 
disarmed the savage of his rage. At another time, Evo- 
dius, who from a senator became a priest, having so far 
forgotten himself as to treat him in the most insulting 
manner, the Saint, without making the least reply, arose 
meekly from his seat and went to visit the churches of the 
city. Evodius was so touched by this conduct that he cast 
himself at the Saint's feet, in the middle of the street, and 
asked his pardon. Erom this time they both lived on 
terms of the most cordial friendship. St. Gal was favored 
with the gift of miracles, and died about the year 553. 



July 2.— THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED 

VIRGIN. 

^he angel Gabriel, in the mystery of the Annunciation, 
informed the Mother of God that her cousin Eliza- 
beth had miraculously conceived, and was then pregnant 
with a son who was to be the precursor of the Messias. 
The Blessed Virgin out of humility concealed the wonderful 
dignity to which she was raised by the incarnation of the 
Son of God in her womb, but, in the transport of her holy 
joy and gratitude, determined she would go to congratulate 



236 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[July 2 



the mother of the Baptist. " Mary therefore arose," saith 
St. Luke, " and with haste went into the hilly country into 
a city of Judea, and entering into the house of Zachary, 
saluted Elizabeth." What a blessing did the presence of 
the God-man bring to this house, the first whidh He hon- 
ored in His humanity with His visit! But Mary is the 
instrument and means by which He imparts to it His divine 
benediction, to show us that she is a channel through which 
He delights to communicate to us His graces, and to en- 
courage us to ask them of Him through her intercession. 
At the voice of the Mother of God, but by the power and 
grace of her divine Son in her womb, Elizabeth was filled 
with the Holy Ghost, and the Infant in her womb conceived 
so great a joy as to leap and exult. At the same time 
Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and by His in- 
fused light she understood the great mystery of the Incar- 
nation which God had wrought in Mary, whom humility 
prevented from disclosing it even to a Saint, and an inti- 
mate friend. In raptures of astonishment Elizabeth pro- 
nounced her blessed above all other women, and cried out, 
" Whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should 
come to me ? " Mary, hearing her own praise, sunk the 
lower in the abyss of her nothingness, and in the transport 
of her humility, and melting in an ecstasy of love and 
gratitude, burst into that admirable canticle, the Mag- 
nificat. Mary sta}<ed with her cousin almost three months, 
after which she returned to Nazareth. 

Reflection. — Whilst with the Church we praise God for 
the mercies and wonders which He wrought in this mystery, 
we ought to apply ourselves to the imitation of the virtues 
of which Mary sets us a perfect example. From her we 
ought particularly to learn the lessons by which we shall 
sanctify our visits and conversation, actions which are to 
so many Christians the sources of innumerable dangers and 
sins. 



July 4] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



237 



July 3 ._ST. HELIODORUS, Bishop. 

Ohis Saint was born at Dalmatia, St. Jerome's native 
country, and soon sought out that great Doctor, in 
order not only to follow his advice in matters relating to 
Christian perfection, but also to profit by his deep learning. 
The life of a recluse possessed peculiar attractions for him, 
but to enter a monastery it would be necessary to leave his 
spiritual master and director, and such a sacrifice he was 
not prepared to make. He remained in the world, though 
not of it, and, following the example of the holy anchorites, 
passed his time in prayer and devout reading. He accom- 
panied St. Jerome to the East, but the desire to revisit his 
native land, and to see his parents once more, drew him 
back to Dalmatia, although St. Jerome tried to persuade 
him to remain. He promised to return as soon as he had 
fulfilled the duty he owed his parents. In the meantime, 
finding his absence protracted, and fearing that the love of 
family and attachment to worldly things might lure him 
from his vocation, St. Jerome wrote him an earnest letter, 
exhorting him to break entirely with the world and to 
consecrate himself to the service of God. But the Lord, 
Who disposes all things, had another mission for His ser- 
vant. After the death of his mother, Heliodorus went to 
Italy, where he soon became noted for his eminent piety. 
He was made Bishop of Altino, and became one of the most 
distinguished prelates of an age fruitful in great men. He 
died about the year 290. 



July 4— ST. BERTHA, Widow, Abbess. 

ertha was the daughter of Count Eigobert and TTrs- 
ana, related to one of the kings of Kent in England. 
In the twentieth year of her age she was married to Sige- 
froi, by whom she had five daughters, two of whom, Ger- 
trude and Deotila, are Saints. After her husband's death 
she put on the veil in the nunnery which she had built at 
Blangy in Artois, a little distance from Hesdin. Her 
daughters Gertrude and Deotila followed her example. She 




238 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[July 5 



was persecuted by Roger, or Rotgar, who endeavored to as- 
perse her with King Thierri III., to revenge his being re- 
fused Gertrude in marriage. But this prince, convinced of 
the innocence of Bertha, then abbess over her nunnery, gave 
her a kind reception and took her under his protection. 
On her return to Blangy, Bertha finished her nunnery and 
caused three churches to be built, one in honor of St. Omer, 
another she called after St. Vaast, and the third in honor 
of St. Martin of Tours. And then, after establishing a 
regular observance in her community, she left St. Deotila 
abbess in her stead, and shut herself in a cell, to pass the 
remainder of her days in prayer. She died about the year 
725. A great part of her relics are kept at Blangy. 



July 5 ._ST. PETER OF LUXEMBURG. 

Qeter of Luxemburg, descended both by his father and 
mother from the noblest families in Europe, was born 
in Lorraine, in the year 1369. When but a schoolboy, 
twelve years of age, he went to London as a hostage for his 
brother, the Count of St. Pol, who had been taken prisoner. 
The English were so won by Peter's holy example that they 
released him at the end of the year, taking his word for the 
ransom. Richard II. now invited him to remain at the 
English court ; but Peter returned to Paris, determined to 
have no master but Christ. At the early age of fifteen he 
was appointed, on account of his prudence and sanctity, 
Bishop of Metz, and made his public entry into his see 
barefoot and riding an ass. He governed his diocese with 
all the zeal and prudence of maturity, and divided his 
revenues in three parts — for the Church, the poor, and 
his household. His charities often left him personally 
destitute, and he had but twenty pence left when he died. 
Created Cardinal of St. George, his austerities in the midst 
of a court were so severe that he was ordered to moderate 
them. Peter replied, " I shall always be an unprofitable 
servant, but I can at least obey." Ten months after his 
promotion he fell sick of a fever, and lingered for some 
time in a sinking condition, his holiness increasing as he 
drew near his end. St. Peter, it was believed, never 



July 6] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



239 



stained his soul by mortal sin; yet as he grew in grace 
his holy hatred of self became more and more intense. At 
length, when he had received the last sacraments, he forced 
his attendants each in turn to scourge him for his faults, 
and then lay silent till he died. But God was pleased to 
glorify His servant. Among other miracles is the follow- 
ing: On July 5, 1432, a child about twelve years old was 
killed by falling from a high tower, in the palace of Avi- 
gnon, upon a sharp rock. The father, distracted with 
grief, picked up the scattered pieces of the skull and 
brains, and carried them in a sack, with the mutilated body 
of his son, to St. Peter's shrine, and with many tears be- 
sought the Saint's intercession. After a while the child 
returned to life, and was placed upon the altar for all to 
witness. In honor of this miracle the city of Avignon 
chose St Peter as its patron Saint. He died in 1387, aged 
eighteen years. 

Reflection. — St. Peter teaches us how, by self-denial, 
rank, riches, the highest dignities, and all this world can 
give, may serve to make a Saint. 

July 6.— ST. GOAR, Priest. 

t. Goar was born of an illustrious family, at Aqui- 
taine. From his youth he was noted for his earnest 
piety, and, having been raised to sacred orders, he con- 
verted many sinners by the fervor of his preaching and the 
force of his example. Wishing to serve God entirely un- 
known to the world, he went over into Germany, and 
settling in the neighborhood of Trier, he shut himself up 
in his cell, and arrived at such an eminent degree of sanc- 
tity as to be esteemed the oracle and miracle of the whole 
county. Sigebert, King of Austrasia, learning of the 
sanctity of Goar, wished to have him made Bishop of Metz, 
and for that purpose summoned him to court. The Saint, 
fearing the responsibilities of the office, prayed that he 
might be excused. He was seized with a fever, and died 
in 575. 




240 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[July 6 



ST. PALLADIUM Bishop, Apostle of the Scots. 

he name of Palladius shows this Saint to have been a 
Eoman, and most authors agree that he was deacon 
of the Church of Kome. At least St. Prosper, in his chron- 
icle, informs us that when Agricola, a noted Pelagian, had 
corrupted the churches of Britain by introducing that pes- 
tilential heresy, Pope Celestine, at the instance of Palla- 
dius the deacon, in 429, sent thither St. Germanus, Bishop 
of Auxerre, in quality of his legate, who, having ejected 
the heretics, brought back the Britons to the Catholic faith. 
In 431 Pope Celestine sent Palladius, the first bishop, to 
the Scots then believing in Christ. The Irish writers of the 
lives of St. Patrick say that St. Palladius had preached in 
Ireland a little before St. Patrick, but that he was soon 
banished by the King of Leinster, and returned to North 
Britain, where he had first opened his mission. There 
seems to be no doubt that he was sent to the whole nation 
of the Scots, several colonies of whom had passed from 
Ireland into North Britain, and possessed themselves of 
part of the country since called Scotland. After St. Pal- 
ladius had left Ireland, he arrived among the Scots in 
North Britain, according to St. Prosper, in the consulate 
of Bassus and Antochius, in the year of Christ 431. He 
preached there with great zeal, and formed a considerable 
Church. The Scottish historians tell us that the Faith was 
planted in North Britain about the year 200, in the time of 
King Donald, when Victor was Pope of Eome. But they 
all acknowledge that Palladius was the first bishop in that 
country, and style him their first apostle. The Saint died 
at Fordun, fifteen miles from Aberdeen, about the year 450. 

Reflection. — St. Palladius surmounted every obstacle 
which a fierce nation had opposed to the establishment of 
the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Ought not our hearts to be 
impressed with the most lively sentiments of love and 
gratitude to our merciful Gk>d for having raised up such 
great and zealous men, by whose ministry the light of true 
faith has been conveyed to us ? 




July 7] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



241 



July 7.— ST. PANTiENUS, Father of the Church. 

^^xHis learned father and apostolic man flourished in the 
second century. He was by birth a Sicilian, by pro- 
fession a Stoic philosopher. His esteem for virtue led 
him into an acquaintance with the Christians, and being 
charmed with the innocence and sanctity of their conversa- 
tion, he opened his eyes to the truth. He studied the Holy 
Scriptures under the disciples of the apostles, and his 
thirst after sacred learning brought him to Alexandria, in 
Egypt, where the disciples of St. Mark had instituted a 
celebrated school of the Christian doctrine. Pantenus 
sought not to display his talents in that great mart of 
literature and commerce ; but this great progress in sacred 
learning was after some time discovered, and he was drawn 
out of that obscurity in which his humility sought to bury 
itself. Being placed at the head of the Christian school 
some time before the year 179, by his learning and excel- 
lent manner of teaching he raised its reputation above all 
the schools of the philosophers, and the lessons which he 
read, and which were gathered from the flowers of the 
prophets and apostles, conveyed light and knowledge into 
the minds of all his hearers. The Indians who traded at 
Alexandria entreated him to pay their country a visit, 
whereupon he forsook his school and went to preach the 
Gospel to the Eastern nations. St. Pantaenus found some 
seeds of the faith already sown in the Indies, and a book of 
the Gospel of St. Matthew in Hebrew, which St. Bartholo- 
mew had carried thither. He brought it back with him 
to Alexandria, whither he returned after he had zealously 
employed some years in instructing the Indians in the 
faith. St. Pantaenus continued to teach in private till 
about the year 216, when he closed a noble and excellent 
life by a happy death. 

Reflection. — " Have a care that none lead you astray by 
a false philosophy/' says St. Paul, for philosophy without 
religion is a vain thing. 



242 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [July 8 



July 8.— ST. ELIZABETH OF PORTUGAL. 

/^Tlizabeth was born in 1271. She was daughter of 
V-A Pedro III. of Arragon, being named after her aunt, 
St. Elizabeth of Hungary. At twelve years of age she was 
given in marriage to Denis, King of Portugal, and from a 
holy child became a saintly wife. She heard Mass and 
recited the Divine Office daily, but her devotions were 
arranged with such prudence that they interfered with no 
duty of her state. She prepared for her frequent com- 
munions by severe austerities, fasting thrice a week, and 
by heroic works of charity. She was several times called 
on to make peace between her husband and her son Al- 
phonso, who had taken up arms against him. Her husband 
tried her much, both by his unfounded jealousy and by his 
infidelity to herself. A slander affecting Elizabeth and 
one of her pages made the king determine to slay the youth, 
and he told a lime-burner to cast into his kiln the first page 
who should arrive with a royal message. On the day fixed 
the page was sent; but the boy, who was in the habit of 
hearing Mass daily, stopped on his way to do so. The 
king, in suspense, sent a second page, the very originator 
of the calumny, who, coming first to the kiln, was at once 
cast into the furnace and burned. Shortly after, the first 
page arrived from the church, and took back to the king 
the lime-burner's reply that his orders had been fulfilled. 
Thus hearing Mass saved the page's life and proved the 
queen's innocence. Her patience, and the wonderful sweet- 
ness with which she even cherished the children of her 
rivals, completely won the king from his evil ways, and 
he became a devoted husband and a truly Christian king. 
She built many charitable institutions and religious houses, 
among others a convent of Poor Clares. After her hus- 
band's death, she wished to enter their Order; but being 
dissuaded by her people, who could not do without her, she 
took the habit of the Third Order of St. Francis, and spent 
the rest of her life in redoubled austerities and almsgiving. 
She died at the age of sixty-five, while in the act of making 
peace between her children. 



July 9] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



243 



Reflection. — In the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar St. Eliza- 
beth daily found strength to bear with sweetness suspicion 
and cruelty; and by that same Holy Sacrifice her inno- 
cence was proved. What succor do we forfeit by neglect 
of daily Mass! 



July 9. — ST. EPHREM, Deacon. 

/SS[t. Ephkem is the light and glory of the Syriac Church. 

A mere youth, he entered on the religious life at Nisi- 
bis, his native place. Long years of retirement taught him 
the science of the Saints, and then God called him to 
Edessa, there to teach what he had learned so well. He 
defended the Faith against heresies, in books which have 
made him known as the Prophet of the Syrians. Crowds 
hung upon his words. Tears used to stop his voice when 
he preached. He trembled and made his hearers tremble 
at the thought of God's judgments; but he found in com- 
punction and humility the way to peace, and he rested with 
unshaken confidence in the mercy of our blessed Lord. 
" I am setting out," he says, speaking of his own death, 
" I am setting out on a journey hard and dangerous. Thee, 
0 Son of God, I have taken for my Viaticum. When I 
am hungry, I will feed on Thee. The infernal fire will 
not venture near me, for it cannot bear the fragrance of 
Thy Body and Thy Blood." His hymns won the hearts 
of the people, drove out the hymns of the Gnostic heretics, 
and gained for him the title which he bears in the Syriac 
Liturgy to this day — "the Harp of the Holy Ghost." 
Passionate as he was by nature, from the time he entered 
religion no one ever saw him angry. Abounding in labors 
till the last, he toiled for the suffering poor at Edessa in 
the famine of 378, and there lay down to die in extreme old 
age. What was the secret of success so various and so com- 
plete? Humility, which made him distrust himself and 
trust God. Till his death, he wept for the slight sins 
committed in the thoughtlessness of boyhood. He refused 
the dignity of the priesthood. "I," he told St. Basil, 
whom he went to see at the bidding of the Holy Spirit, " I 
am that Ephrem who has wandered from the path of 



244 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[July 10 



heaven." Then bursting into tears, he cried out, " 0 my 
father, have pity on a sinful wretch, and lead me on the 
narrow way." 

Reflection. — Humility is the path which leads to abid- 
ing peace and brings us near to the consolations of God. 

July io.— THE SEVEN BROTHERS, Martyrs, and 
ST. FELICITAS, their Mother. 

he illustrious martyrdom of these Saints happened at 
Eome, under the Emperor Antoninus. The seven 
brothers were the sons of St. Felicitas, a noble, pious, 
Christian widow in Eome, who, after the death of her hus- 
band, served God in a state of continency and employed 
herself wholly in prayer, fasting, and works of charity. 
By the public and edifying example of this lady and her 
whole family many idolaters were moved to renounce the 
worship of their false gods, and to embrace the Faith of 
Christ. This excited the anger of the heathen priests, who 
complained to the emperor that the boldness with which 
Felicitas publicly practised the Christian religion drew 
many from the worship of the immortal gods, who were 
the guardians and protectors of the empire, and that, in 
order to appease these false gods, it was necessary to com- 
pel this lady and her children to sacrifice to them. Pub- 
lius, the prefect of Eome, caused the mother and her sons 
to be apprehended and brought before him, and, addressing 
her, said, 66 Take pity on your children, Felicitas ; they are 
in the bloom of youth, and may aspire to the greatest honors 
and preferments." The holy mother answered, "Your 
pity is really impiety, and the compassion to which you 
exhort me would make me the most cruel of mothers." 
Then turning herself towards her children, she said to 
them, " My sons, look up to heaven, where Jesus Christ 
with His Saints expects you. Be faithful in His love, and 
fight courageously for your souls." Publius, being exas- 
perated at this behavior, commanded her to be cruelly 
buffeted; he then called the children to him one after 
another, and used many artful speeches, mingling promises 
with threats to induce them to adore the gods. His argu- 




July 11] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



245 



ments and threats were equally in vain, and the brothers 
were condemned to be scourged. After being whipped, 
they were remanded to prison, and the prefect, despairing 
to overcome their resolution, laid the whole process before 
the emperor. Antoninus gave an order that they should 
be sent to different judges, and be condemned to different 
deaths. Januarius was scourged to death with whips 
loaded with plummets of lead. The two next, Felix and 
Philip, were beaten with clubs till they expired. Sylvanus, 
the fourth, was thrown headlong down a steep precipice. 
The three youngest, Alexander, Vitalis, and Martialis, were 
beheaded, and the same sentence was executed upon the 
mother four months after. 

Reflection. — What afflictions do parents daily meet with 
from the disorders into which their children fall through 
their own bad example or neglect ! Let them imitate the 
earnestness of St. Felicitas in forming to perfect virtue the 
tender souls which God hath committed to their charge, 
and with this Saint they will have the greatest of all com- 
forts in them, and will by His grace count as many Saints 
in their family as they are blessed with children. 

July ii. — ST. JAMES, Bishop. 

his eminent Saint and glorious Doctor of the Syriac 
Church was a native of Nisibis, in Mesopotamia. In 
his youth, entering the world, he trembled at the sight of 
its vices and the slippery path of its pleasures, and he 
thought it the safer part to strengthen himself in retire- 
ment, that he might afterward be the better able to stand 
his ground in the field. He accordingly chose the highest 
mountain for his abode, sheltering himself in a cave in the 
winter, and the rest of the year living in the woods, con- 
tinually exposed to the open air. Notwithstanding his 
desire to live unknown to men, he was discovered, and 
many were not afraid to climb the rugged rocks that they 
might recommend themselves to his prayers and receive the 
comfort of his spiritual advice. He was favored with the 
gifts of prophecy and miracles in an uncommon measure. 
One day, as he was travelling, he was accosted by a gang of 




246 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[July 11 



beggars, with the view of extorting money from him under 
pretence of burying their companion, who lay stretched 
on the ground as if he were dead. The holy man gave 
them what they asked, and "offering up supplications to 
God as for a soul departed, he prayed that his Divine 
Majesty would pardon him the sins he had committed 
whilst he lived, and that he would admit him into the com- 
pany of the Saints." As soon as the Saint was gone by., 
the beggars, calling upon their companion to rise and take 
his share of the booty, were surprised to find him really 
dead. Seized with sudden fear and grief, they shrieked in 
the utmost consternation, and immediately ran after the 
man of God, cast themselves at his feet, confessed the cheat, 
begged forgiveness, and besought him by his prayers to 
restore their unhappy companion to life, which the Saint 
did. The most famous miracle of our Saint was that by 
which he protected his native city from the barbarians. 
Sapor II., the haughty King of Persia, besieged Msibis 
with the whole strength of his empire, whilst our Saint was 
Bishop. The Bishop would not pray for the destruction 
of any one, but he implored the Divine Mercy that the city 
might be delivered from the calamities of so long a siege. 
Afterward, going to the top of a high tower, and turning 
his face towards the enemy, and seeing the prodigious mul- 
titude of men and beasts which covered the whole country, 
he said, "Lord, Thou art able by the weakest means to 
humble the pride of Thy enemies ; defeat these multitudes 
by an army of gnats." God heard the humble prayer of 
His servant. Scarce had the Saint spoken those words, 
when whole clouds of gnats and flies came pouring down 
upon the Persians, got into the elephants' trunks and the 
horses' ears and nostrils, which made them chafe and foam ? 
throw their riders, and put the whole army into confusion 
and disorder. A famine and pestilence, which followed, 
carried off a great part of the army; and Sapor, after lying 
above three months before the place, set fire to all his own 
engines of war, and was forced to abandon the siege and 
return home with the loss of twenty thousand men. Sapor 
received a third foil under the walls of Nisibis, in 359, 
upon which he turned his arms against Amidus, took that- 
strong city, and put the garrison and the greatest part of 



JtJLT 12] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



247 



the inhabitants to the sword. The citizens of Nisibis at- 
tributed their preservation to the intercession of their 
glorious patron, St. James, although he had already gone 
to his reward. He died in 350. 



July 12. — ST. JOHN GUALBERT. 

t. John Gualbert was born at Florence, a. d. 999. 
Following the profession of arms at that troubled 
period, he became involved in a blood-feud with a near 
relative. One Good Friday, as he was riding into Florence 
accompanied by armed men, he encountered his enemy in 
a place where neither could avoid the other. John would 
have slain him ; but his adversary, who was totally unpre- 
pared to fight, fell upon his knees with his arms stretched 
out in the form of a cross, and implored him, for the sake 
of Our Lord's holy Passion, to spare his life. St. John 
said to his enemy, " I cannot refuse what you ask in 
Christ's name. I grant you your life, and I give you my 
friendship. Pray that God may forgive me my sin/' 
Grace triumphed. A humble and changed man, he entered 
the Church of St. Miniato, which was near ; and whilst he 
prayed, the figure of our crucified Lord, before which he 
was kneeling, bowed its head toward him as if to ratify his 
pardon. Abandoning the world, he gave himself up to 
prayer and penance in the Benedictine Order. Later he 
was led to found the congregation called of Vallombrosa, 
from the shady valley a few miles from Florence, where he 
established his first monastery. Once the enemies of the 
Saint came to his convent of St. Salvi, plundered it, and 
set fire to it, and having treated the monks with ignominy, 
beat them and wounded them. St. John rejoiced. 
" Now," he said, cc you are true monks. Would that I my- 
self had had the honor of being with you when the soldiers 
came, that I might have had a share in the glory of your 
crowns ! 99 He fought manfully against simony, and in 
many ways promoted the interest of the Faith in Italy. 
After a life of great austerity, he died whilst the angels 
were singing round his bed, July 11, 1073. 




248 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [July 13 



Reflection. — The heroic act which merited for St. John 
Gualbert his conversion was the forgiveness of his enemy. 
Let 11s imitate him in this virtue, resolving never to revenge 
ourselves in deed, in word, or in thought. 



July i 3 ._ST. EUGENIUS, Bishop. 

he episcopal see of Carthage had remained vacant 
twenty-four years, when, in 481, Huneric permitted 
the Catholics on certain conditions to choose one who 
should fill it. The people, impatient to enjoy the comfort 
of a pastor, pitched upon Eugenius, a citizen of Carthage, 
eminent for his learning, zeal, piety, and prudence. His 
charities to the distressed were excessive, and he refused 
himself everything that he might give all to the poor. His 
virtue gained him the respect and esteem even of the 
Arians; but at length envy and blind zeal got the ascend- 
ant in their breasts, and the king sent him an order never 
to sit on the episcopal throne, preach to the people, or admit 
into his chapel any Vandals, among whom several were 
Catholics. The Saint boldly answered that the laws of 
God commanded him not to shut the door of His church 
to any that desired to serve Him in it. Huneric, enraged 
at this answer, persecuted the Catholics in various ways. 
Many nuns were so cruelly tortured that they died on the 
rack. Great numbers of bishops, priests, deacons, and 
eminent Catholic laymen were banished to a desert filled 
with scorpions and venomous serpents. The people fol- 
lowed their bishops and priests with lighted tapers in their 
hands, and mothers carried their little babes in their arms 
and laid them at the feet of the confessors, all crying out 
with tears, " Going yourselves to your crowns, to whom do 
you leave us ? Who will baptize our children ? Who will 
impart to us the benefit of penance, and discharge us from 
the bonds of sin by the favor of reconciliation and pardon ? 
Who will bury us with solemn supplications at our death ? 
By whom will the Divine Sacrifice be made?" The 
Bishop Eugenius was spared in the first storm., but after- 
wards was carried into the uninhabited desert country in 
the province of Tripolis, and committed to the guard of 




July 14] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



249 



Antony, an inhuman Arian bishop, who treated him with 
the utmost barbarity. Gontanmnd, who succeeded Hu- 
nerie, recalled our Saint to Carthage, opened the Catholic 
churches, and allowed all the exiled priests to return. 
After reigning twelve years, Gontamund died, and his 
brother Thrasimund was called to the crown. Under this 
prince St. Eugenius was again banished, and died in exile, 
on the 13th of July, 505, in a monastery which he built 
and governed, near Albi. 

Reflection. — " Alms shall "be a great confidence before 
the Most High God to them that give it. Water quencheth 
a flaming fire, and alms resisteth sin." 

July 14.— ST. BONAVENTURE. 

anctity and learning raised Bonaventure to the 
Church's highest honors, and from a child he was the 
companion of Saints. Yet at heart he was ever the poor 
Franciscan friar, and practised and taught humility and 
mortification. St. Francis gave him his name ; for, having 
miraculously cured him of a mortal sickness, he propheti- 
cally exclaimed of the child, " 0 bona ventura ! " — good 
luck. He is known also as the " Seraphic Doctor," from 
the fervor of divine love w^hich breathes in his writings. 
He was the friend of St. Thomas Aquinas, who asked him 
one day whence he drew his great learning. He replied by 
pointing to his crucifix. At another time St. Thomas 
found him in ecstasy while writing the life of St. Francis, 
and exclaimed, " Let us leave a Saint to write of a Saint." 
They received the Doctor's cap together. He was the 
guest and adviser of St. Louis, and the director of St. Isa- 
bella, the king's sister. At the age of thirty-five he was 
made general of his Order ; and only escaped another dig- 
nity, the Archbishopric of York, by dint of tears and en- 
treaties. Gregory X. appointed him Cardinal Bishop of 
Albano. When the Saint heard of the Pope's resolve to 
create him a Cardinal, he quietly made his escape from 
Italy. But Gregory sent him a summons to return to 
Rome. On his way, he stopped to rest himself at a con- 
vent of his Order near Florence; and there two Papal 




250 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[July 15 



messengers, sent to meet him with the Cardinal's hat, 
found him washing the dishes. The Saint desired them to 
hang the hat on a bush that was near, and take a walk in 
the garden until he had finished what he was about. Then 
taking up the hat with unfeigned sorrow, he joined the 
messengers, and paid them the respect due to their char- 
acter. He sat at the Pontiff's right hand, and spoke first 
at the Council of Lyons. His piety and eloquence won over 
the Greeks to Catholic union, and then his strength failed. 
He died while the Council was sitting, and was buried by 
the assembled bishops, a. d. 1274. 

Reflection. — " The fear of God/' says St. Bonaventure, 
u forbids a man to give his heart to transitory things, 
which are the true seeds of sin." 

July 15.— ST. HENRY, Emperor. 

enry, Duke of Bavaria, saw in a vision his guardian, 
St. Wolfgang, pointing to the words " after six/' 
This moved him to prepare for death, and for six years he 
continued to watch and pray, when, at the end of the sixth 
year, he found the warning verified in his election as em- 
peror. Thus trained in the fear of God, he ascended the 
throne with but one thought — to reign for His greater 
glory. The pagan Slavs were then despoiling the empire. 
Henry attacked them with a small force; but angels and 
Saints were seen leading his troops, and the heathen fled 
in despair. Poland and Bohemia, Moravia and Burgundy, 
were in turn annexed to his kingdom, Pannonia and Hun- 
gary won to the Church. With the Faith secured in Ger- 
many, Henry passed into Italy, drove out the Antipope 
Gregory, brought Benedict VIII. back to Rome, and was 
crowned in St. Peter's by that Pontiff, in 1014. It was 
Henry's custom, on arriving in any town, to spend his first 
night in watching in some church dedicated to our blessed 
Lady. As he was thus praying in St. Mary Major's, the 
first night of his arrival in Rome, he cc saw the Sovereign 
and Eternal Priest Christ Jesus " enter to say Mass. Sts. 
Laurence and Vincent assisted as deacon and sub-deacon. 
Saints innumerable filled the church, and angels sang in 




July 16] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



251 



the choir. After the Gospel, an angel was sent by Our 
Lady to give Henry the book to kiss. Touching him 
lightly on the thigh, as the angel did to Jacob, he said, 
" Accept this sign of God's love for your chastity and jus- 
tice;** and from that time the emperor always was lame. 
Like holy David, Henry employed the fruits of his con- 
quests in the service of the temple. The forests and mines 
of the empire, the best that his treasury could produce, 
were consecrated to the sanctuary. Stately cathedrals, 
noble monasteries, churches innumerable, enlightened and 
sanctified the once heathen lands. In 1022 Henry lay on 
his bed of death. He gave back to her parents his wife, 
St. Cunegunda, " a virgin still, as a virgin he had received 
her from Christ/' and surrendered his own pure soul to 
God. 

Reflection. — St. Henry deprived himself of many things 
to enrich the house of God. We clothe ourselves in purple 
and fine linen, and leave Jesus in poverty and neglect. 

July 1 6. — ST. SIMON STOCK. 

@iMOisr was born in the county of Kent, England, and 
left his home when he was but twelve years of age, to 
live as a hermit in the hollow trunk of a tree, whence he 
was known as Simon of the Stock. Here he passed twenty 
years in penance and prayer, and learned from Our Lady 
that he was to join an Order not then known in England. 
He waited in patience till the White Friars came, and then 
entered the Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. His 
great holiness moved his brethren in the general chapter 
held at Aylesford, near Eochester, in 1245, to choose him 
prior-general of the Order. In the many persecutions 
raised against the new religious, Simon went with filial 
confidence to the Blessed Mother of God. As he knelt in 
prayer in the White Friars' convent at Cambridge, on J uly 
16, 1251, she appeared before him and presented him with 
the scapular, in assurance of her protection. The devo- 
tion to the blessed habit spread quickly throughout the 
Christian world. Pope after Pope enriched it with indul- 
gences, and miracles innumerable put their seal upon its 



252 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[July 17 



efficacy. The first of them was worked at Winchester on a 
man dying in despair, who at once asked for the Sacra- 
ments, when the scapular was laid upon him by St. Simon 
Stock. In the year 1636, M. de Guge, a cornet in a cav- 
alry regiment, was mortally wounded at the engagement of 
Tehin, a bullet having lodged near his heart. He was then 
in a state of grievous sin, but had time left him to make 
his confession, and with his own hands wrote his last testa- 
ment. When this was done, the surgeon probed his wound, 
and the bullet was found to have driven his scapular into 
his heart. On its being withdrawn, he presently expired, 
making profound acts of gratitude to the Blessed Virgin, 
who had prolonged his life miraculously, and thus pre- 
served him from eternal death. St. Simon Stock died at 
Bordeaux in 1265. 

Reflection. — To enjoy the privileges of the scapular, it 
is sufficient that it be received lawfully and worn de- 
voutly. How, then, can any one fail to profit by a devotion 
so easy, so simple, and so wonderfully blessed ? " He that 
shall overcome, shall thus be clothed in white garments, 
and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, and 
I will confess his name before My Father and before His 
angels" (Apoc. iii. 5). 



July 17.— ST. ALEXIUS. 

T. Alexius was the only son of parents pre-eminent 
among the Roman nobles for virtue, birth, and 
wealth. On his wedding-night, by God's special inspira- 
tion, he secretly quitted Eome, and journeying to Edessa, 
in the far East, gave away all that he had brought with 
him, content thenceforth to live on alms at the gate of Our 
Lady's church in that city. It came to pass that the serv- 
ants of St. Alexius, whom his father sent in search of 
him, arrived at Edessa, and seeing him among the poor 
at the gate of Our Lady's church, gave him an alms, not 
recognizing him. Whereupon the man of God, rejoicing, 
said, " I thank thee, 0 Lord, Who hast called me and 
granted that I should receive for Thy name's sake an alms 
from my own slaves. Deign to fulfil in me the work Thou 




July 18] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



253 



hast begun." After seventeen years, when his sanctity- 
was miraculously manifested by the Blessed Virgin's 
image, he once more sought obscurity by flight. On his 
way to Tarsus contrary winds drove his ship to Kome. 
There no one recognized in the wan and tattered mendi- 
cant the heir of Kome's noblest house; not even his sor- 
rowing parents, who had vainly sent throughout the world 
in search of him. From his father's charity he begged a 
mean corner of his palace as a shelter, and the leavings 
of his table as food. Thus he spent seventeen years, bear- 
ing patiently the mockery and ill-usage of his own slaves, 
and witnessing daily the inconsolable grief of his spouse 
and parents. At last, when death had ended this cruel 
martyrdom, they learned too late, from a writing in his 
own hand, who it was that they had unknowingly shel- 
tered. God bore testimony to His servant's sanctity by 
many miracles. He died early in the fifth century. 

Reflection. — We must always be ready to sacrifice our 
dearest and best natural affections in obedience to the call 
of our heavenly Father. " Call none your father upon 
earth, for one is your Father in heaven" (Matt, xxiii. 9). 
Our Lord has taught us this not by words only, but by His 
own example and by that of His Saints. 



July 1 8. — ST. CAMILLUS OF LELLIS. 

he early years of Camillas gave no sign of sanctity. 
At the age of nineteen he took service with his 
father, an Italian noble, against the Turks, and after four 
years 9 hard campaigning found himself, through his vio- 
lent temper, reckless habits, and inveterate passion for 
gambling, a discharged soldier, and in such straitened cir- 
cumstances that he was obliged to work as a laborer on a 
Capuchin convent which was then building. A few words 
from a Capuchin friar brought about his conversion, and 
he resolved to become a religious. Thrice he entered the 
Capuchin novitiate, but each time an obstinate wound in 
his leg forced him to leave. He repaired to Eome for 
medical treatment, and there took St. Philip as his con- 




254 



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[July 19 



fessor, and entered the hospital of St. Giaeomo, of which 
he became in time the superintendent. The carelessness 
of the paid chaplains and nurses towards the suffering 
patients now inspired him with the thought of founding a 
congregation to minister to their wants. With this end he 
was ordained priest, and in 1586 his community of the 
Servants of the Sick was confirmed by the Pope. Its use- 
fulness was soon felt, not only in hospitals, but in private 
houses. Summoned at every hour of the day and night, 
the devotion of Camillus never grew cold. With a woman's 
tenderness he attended to the needs of his patients. He 
wept with them, consoled them, and prayed with them. 
He knew miraculously the state of their souls; and St. 
Philip saw angels whispering to two Servants of the Sick 
who were consoling a dying person. One day a sick man 
said to the Saint, " Father, may I beg you to make up my 
bed ? it is very hard." Camillus replied, a God forgive 
you, brother ! You beg me ! Don't you know yet that you 
are to command me, for I am your servant and slave." 
" Would to God," he would cry, " that in the hour of my 
death one sigh or one blessing of these poor creatures might 
fall upon me ! 99 His prayer was heard. He was granted 
the same consolations in his last hour which he had so 
often procured for others. In the year 1614 he died with 
the full use of his faculties, after two weeks' saintly prep- 
aration, as the priest was reciting the words of the ritual, 
" May Jesus Christ appear to thee with a mild and joyful 
countenance ! 99 

Reflection. — St. Camillus venerated the sick as living 
images of Christ, and by ministering to them in this spirit 
did penance for the sins of his youth, led a life precious in 
merit, and from a violent and quarrelsome soldier became 
a gentle and tender Saint. 

July 19. — ST. VINCENT OF PAUL. 

t. Vincent was born in 1576. In after-years, when 
adviser of the queen and oracle of the Church in 
France, he loved to recount how, in his youth, he had 
guarded his father's pigs. Soon after his ordination he 




July 19] 



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255 



was captured by corsairs, and carried into Barbary. He 
converted his renegade master, and escaped with him to 
France. Appointed chaplain-general of the galleys of 
France, his tender charity brought hope into those prisons 
where hitherto despair had reigned. A mother mourned 
her imprisoned son. Vincent put on his chains and took 
his place at the oar, and gave him to his mother. His 
charity embraced the poor, young and old, provinces deso- 
lated by civil war, Christians enslaved by the infidel. The 
poor man, ignorant and degraded, was to him the image of 
Him Who became as " a leper and no man." " Turn the 
medal/' he said, " and you then will see Jesus Christ." 
He went through the streets of Paris at night, seeking the 
children who were left there to die. Once robbers rushed 
upon him, thinking he carried a treasure, but when he 
opened his cloak, they recognized him and his burden, and 
fell at his feet. Not only was St. Vincent the saviour of 
the poor, but also of the rich, for he taught them to do 
works of mercy. "When the work for the foundlings was 
in danger of failing from want of funds, he assembled the 
ladies of the Association of Charity. He bade his most 
fervent daughters be present to give the spur to the others. 
Then he said, " Compassion and charity have made you 
adopt these little creatures as your children. You have 
been their mothers according to grace, when their own 
mothers abandoned them. Cease to be their mothers, that 
you may become their judges; their life and death are in 
your hands. I shall now take your votes: it is time to 
pronounce sentence." The tears of the assembly were his 
only answer, and the work was continued. The Society of 
St. Vincent, the Priests of the Mission, and 25,000 Sisters 
of Charity still comfort the afflicted with the charity of St. 
Vincent of Paul. He died in 1660. 

Reflection. — Most people who profess piety ask advice 
of directors about their prayers and spiritual exercises. 
Few inquire whether they are not in danger of damnation 
from neglect of works of charity. 



256 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[July 20 



July 20. — ST. MARGARET, Virgin and Martyr. 

ccording to the ancient Martyrologies, St. Margaret 
suffered at Antioch in Pisidia, in the last general 
persecution. She is said to have been instructed in the 
Faith by a Christian nurse, to have been persecuted by her 
own father, a pagan priest, and, after many torments, to 
have gloriously finished her martyrdom by the sword. 
"From the East, her veneration was exceedingly propagated 
in England, France, and Germany, in the eleventh century, 
during the holy wars. Her body is now kept at Monte- 
Fiaseone in Tuscany. 

ST. JEROME EMILIANI. 

t. Jerome Emiliant was a member of one of the patri- 
cian families of Venice, and, like many other Saints, 
in early life a soldier. He was appointed governor of a 
fortress among the mountains of Treviso, and whilst 
bravely defending his post, was made prisoner by the en- 
emy. In the misery of his dungeon he invoked the great 
Mother of God, and promised, if she would set him free, to 
lead a new and a better life. Our Lady appeared, broke 
his fetters, and led him forth through the midst of his 
enemies. At Treviso he hung up his chains at her altar, 
dedicated himself to her service, and on reaching his home 
at Venice devoted himself to a life of active charity. His 
special love was for the deserted orphan children whom, in 
the times of the plague and famine, he found wandering in 
the streets. He took them home, clothed and fed them, 
and taught them the Christian truths. From Venice he 
passed to Padua and Verona, and in a few years had 
founded orphanages through Northern Italy. Some pious 
clerics and laymen, who had been his fellow-workers, fixed 
their abode in one of these establishments, and devoted 
themselves to the cause of education. The Saint drew up 
for them a rule of life and thus was founded the Congrega- 
tion, which still exists, of the Clerks Eegular of Somaseha. 
St. Jerome died February 8, 1537, of an illness which he 
had caught in visiting the sick. 





July 21] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



257 



Reflection. — Let us learn from St. Jerome to exert our- 
selves in behalf of the many hundred children whose souls 
are perishing around us for want of some one to show them 
the way to heaven. 



July 21. — ST. VICTOR, Martyr. 

^\HE Emperor Maximian, reeking with the blood of the 
Thebsean legion and many other martyrs, arrived at 
Marseilles, where the Church then flourished. The tyrant 
breathed here nothing but slaughter and fury, and his 
coming filled the Christians with fear and alarm. In this 
general consternation, Victor, a Christian officer in the 
troops, went about in the night-time from house to house, 
visiting the faithful and inspiring them with contempt of a 
temporal death and the love of eternal life. He was sur- 
prised in this, and brought before the prefects Asterius and 
Eutychius, who exhorted him not to lose the fruit of all his 
services and the favor of his prince for the worship of a 
dead man, as they called J esus Christ. He answered that 
he renounced those recompenses if he could not enjoy them 
without being unfaithful to Jesus Christ, the eternal Son 
of God, Who vouchsafed to become man for our salvation, 
but Who raised Himself from the dead, and reigns with 
the Father, being God equally with Him. The whole court 
heard him with shouts of rage. Victor was bound hand 
and foot and dragged through the streets of the city, ex- 
posed to the blows and insults of the populace. He was 
brought back bruised and bloody to the tribunal of the pre- 
fects, who, thinking his resolution must have been weak- 
ened by his sufferings, pressed him again to adore their 
gods. But the martyr, filled with the Holy Ghost, ex- 
pressed his respect for the emperor and his contempt for 
their gods. He was then hoisted on the rack and tortured 
a long time, until, the tormentors being at last weary, the 
prefect ordered him to be taken down and thrown into a 
dark dungeon. At midnight, God visited him by His 
angels; the prison was filled with a light brighter than 
that of the sun, and the martyr sung with the angels the 
praises of God. Three soldiers who guarded the prison, 



258 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



[July 22 



seeing this light, cast themselves at the martyr's feet, asked 
his pardon, and desired Baptism. Victor instructed them 
as well as time would permit, sent for priests the same 
night, and, going with them to the seaside, had them bap- 
tized, and returned with them again to his prison. The 
next morning Maximian was informed of the conversion of 
the guards, and in a transport of rage sent officers to bring 
them all four before him. The three soldiers persevered in 
the confession of Jesus Christ, and by the emperor's orders 
were forthwith beheaded. Victor, after having been ex- 
posed to the insults of the whole city and beaten with 
clubs and scourged with leather thongs, was carried back to 
prison, where he continued three days, recommending to 
God his martyrdom with many tears. After that term 
the emperor called him again before his tribunal, and com- 
manded the martyr to offer incense to a statue of Jupiter. 
Victor went up to the profane altar, and by a kick of his 
foot threw it down. The emperor ordered the foot to be 
forthwith chopped off, which the Saint suffered with great 
joy, offering to God these first-fruits of his body. A few 
moments after, the emperor condemned him to be put 
under the grindstone of a hand-mill and crushed to death. 
The executioners turned the wheel, and when part of his 
body was bruised and crushed the mill broke down. The 
Saint still breathed a little, but his head was immediately 
ordered to be cut off. His and the other three bodies were 
thrown into the sea, but, being cast ashore, were buried by 
the Christians in a grotto hewn out of a rock. 



July 22.— ST. MARY MAGDALEN. 

OF tHe earlier life of Mary Magdalen we know only that 
she was " a woman who was a sinner/' From the 
depth of her degradation she raised her eyes to Jesus with 
sorrow, hope, and love. All covered with shame, she came 
in where Jesus was at meat, and knelt behind him. She 
said not a word, but bathed His feet with her tears, wiped 
them with the hair of her head, kissed them in humility, 
and at their touch her sins and her stain were gone. Then 
she poured on them the costly unguent prepared for far 



July 23] 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



259 



other uses; and His own divine lips rolled away her re- 
proach, spoke her absolution, and bade her go in peace. 
Thenceforward she ministered to Jesus, sat at His feet, 
and heard His words. She was one of the family " whom 
Jesus so loved " that He raised her brother Lazarus from 
the dead. Once again, on the eve of His Passion, she 
brought the precious ointment, and, now purified and be- 
loved, poured it on His head, and the whole house of God 
is still filled with the fragrance of her anointing. She 
stood with Our Lady and St. John at the foot of the cross, 
the representative of the many who have had much for- 
given. To her first, after His blessed Mother, and through 
her to His apostles, Our Lord gave the certainty of His res- 
urrection ; and to her first He made Himself known, calling 
her by her name, because she was His. When the faithful 
were scattered by persecution the family of Bethany found 
refuge in Provence. The cave in which St. Mary lived for 
thirty years is still seen, and the chapel on the mountain- 
top, in which she was caught up daily, like St. Paul, to 
"visions and revelations of the Lord." When her end 
drew near she was borne to a spot still marked by a " sa- 
cred pillar," where the holy Bishop Maximin awaited her ; 
and when she had received her Lord, she peacefully fell 
asleep in death. 

Reflection. — u Compunction of heart," says St. Bernard, 
" is a treasure infinitely to be desired, and an unspeakable 
gladness to the heart. It is healing to the soul; it is re- 
mission of sins ; it brings back again the Holy Spirit into 
the humble and loving heart." 

July 23. — ST. APOLLINARIS, Bishop and Martyr. 

t. Apollixaris was the first Bishop of Bavenna ; he sat 
twenty years, and was crowned with martyrdom in 
the reign of Vespasian. He was a disciple of St. Peter, 
and made by him Bishop of Bavenna. St. Peter Chrysolo- 
gus, the most illustrious among his successors, has left us a 
sermon in honor of our Saint, in which he often styles him 
a martyr ; but adds, that though he frequently suffered for 
the Faith, and ardently desired to lay down his life for 




260 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[July 24 



Christ, yet God preserved him a long time to His Church, 
and did not allow the persecutors to take away his life. 
So he seems to have been a martyr only by the torments he 
endured for Christ, which he survived at least some days. 
His body lay first at Classis, four miles from Ravenna, still 
a kind of suburb to that city, and its seaport till it was 
choked up by the sands. In the year 549 his relics were 
removed into a more secret vault in the same church. St. 
Fortunatus exhorted his friends to make pilgrimages to the 
tomb, and St. Gregory the Great ordered parties in doubt- 
ful suits at law to be sworn before it. Pope Honorius built 
a church under the name of Apollinaris in Eome, about the 
year 630. It occurs in all martyrologies, and the high 
veneration which the Church paid early to his memory is 
a sufficient testimony of his eminent sanctity and apostolic 
spirit. 

Reflection. — The virtue of the Saints was true and he- 
roic, because humble and proof against all trials. Perse- 
vere in your good resolutions: it is not enough to begin 
well; you must so continue to the end. 

July 24. — ST. CHRISTINA, Virgin and Martyr. 

T. Christina was the daughter of a rich and powerful 
magistrate named Urbain. Her father, who was deep 
in the practices of heathenism, had a number of golden 
idols, which our Saint destroyed, and distributed the 
pieces among the poor. Infuriated by this act, Urbain 
became the persecutor of his daughter ; he had her whipped 
with rods and then thrown into a dungeon. Christina re- 
mained unshaken in her faith. Her tormentor then had 
her body torn by iron hooks, and fastened her to a rack 
beneath which a fire was kindled. But God watched over 
His servant and turned the flames upon the lookers-on. 
Christina was next seized, a heavy stone tied about her 
neck, and she was thrown into the lake of Bolsena, but she 
was saved by an angel, and outlived her father, who died 
of spite. Later, this martyr suffered the most inhuman 
torments under the judge who succeeded her father, and 
finally was thrown into a burning furnace, where she re- 




July 25] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



261 



mained, unhurt, for five days. By the power of Christ she 
overcame the serpents among which she was thrown; then 
her tongue was cut out, and afterwards, being pierced with 
arrows, she gained the martyr's crown at Tyro, a city 
which formerly stood on an island in the lake of Bolsena 
in Italy, but was long since swallowed up by the waters. 
Her relics are now at Palermo in Sicily. 

July 25.— ST. JAMES. Apostle. 

Y f MOisTG the twelve, three were chosen as the familiar 
3—4. companions of our blessed Lord, and of these James 
was one. He alone, with Peter and John, was admitted 
to the house of Jairus when the dead maiden was raised 
to life. They alone were taken up to the high mountain 
apart, and saw the face of Jesus shining as the sun, and 
His garments white as snow; and these three alone wit- 
nessed the fearful agony in Gethsemane. What was it 
that won James a place among the favorite three ? Faith, 
burning, impetuous, and outspoken, but which needed 
purifying before the " Son of Thunder " could proclaim 
the gospel of peacet It was James who demanded fire 
from heaven to consume the inhospitable Samaritans, and 
who sought the place of honor by Christ in His Kingdom. 
Yet Our Lord, in rebuking his presumption, prophesied his 
faithfulness to death. When St. James was brought be- 
fore King Herod Agrippa, his fearless confession of Jesus 
crucified so moved the public prosecutor that he declared 
himself a Christian on the spot. Accused and accuser 
were hurried off together to execution, and on the road 
the latter begged pardon of the Saint. The apostle had 
long since forgiven him, but hesitated for a moment 
whether publicly to accept as a brother one still unbap- 
tized. God quickly recalled to him the Church's faith, 
that the blood of martyrdom supplies for every sacrament, 
and, falling on his companion's neck, he embraced him, 
with the words, " Peace be with thee ! " Together then 
they knelt for the sword, and together received the crown. 

Reflection. — We must all desire a place in the kingdom 
of our Father; but can we drink the chalice which He 



262 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [July 27 



holds out to each? Possumus, we must say with St. 
James — "We can" — but only in the strength of Him 
Who has drunk it first for us. 

July 26. — ST. ANNE. 

t. Anne was the spouse of St. Joachim, and was 
chosen by God to be the mother of Mary, His own 
blessed Mother on earth. They were both of the royal 
house of David, and their lives were wholly occupied in 
prayer and good works. One thing only was wanting to 
their union — they were childless, and this was held as a 
bitter misfortune among the Jews. At length, when Anne 
was an aged woman, Mary was born, the fruit rather of 
grace than of nature, and the child more of God than of 
man. With the birth of Mary the aged Anne began a new 
life: she watched her every movement with reverent ten- 
derness, and felt herself hourly sanctified by the presence 
of her immaculate child. But she had vowed her daughter 
to God, to God Mary had consecrated herself again, and 
to Him Anne gave her back. Mary was three years old 
when Anne and Joachim led her up the Temple steps, saw 
her pass by herself into the inner sanctuary, and then saw 
her no more. Thus was Anne left childless in her lone old 
age, and deprived of her purest earthly joy just when she 
needed it most. She humbly adored the Divine Will, and 
began again to watch and pray, till God called her to un- 
ending rest with the Father and the Spouse of Mary in the 
home of Mary's Child. 

Reflection. — St. Anne is glorious among the Saints, not 
only as the mother of Mary, but because she gave Mary to 
God. Learn from her to reverence a divine vocation as 
the highest privilege, and to sacrifice every natural tie, 
however holy, at the call of God. 

July 27.— ST. PANTALEON, Martyr. 

T. Pantaleon was physician to the Emperor Galerius 
Maximianus, and a Christian, but, deceived by 
often hearing the false maxims of the world applauded, 
was unhappily seduced into an apostasy. But a zealous 





July 28J LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



263 



Christian called Hermolaus awakened his conscience to a 
sense of his guilt, and brought him again into the fold of 
the Church. The penitent ardently wished to expiate his 
crime by martyrdom; and to prepare himself for the con- 
flict, when Diocletian's bloody persecution broke out at 
Nicomedia, in 303, he distributed all his possessions among 
the poor. JSTot long after this action he was taken up, and 
in his house were also apprehended Hermolaus, Hermip- 
pus, and Hermocrates. After suffering many torments, 
they were all condemned to lose their heads. St. Panta- 
leon suffered the day after the rest. His relics were trans- 
lated to Constantinople, and there kept with great honor. 
The greatest part of them are now shown in the abbey of 
St. Denys near Paris, but his head is at Lyons. 

Reflection. — "With the elect thou shalt be elect, and 
with the perverse wilt be perverted." 

July 28—STS. NAZARIUS and CELSUS, Martyrs. 

t. Nazarius's father was a heathen, and held a con- 
siderable post in the Eoman army. His mother, 
Perpetua, was a zealous Christian, and was instructed by 
St. Peter, or his disciples, in the most perfect maxims of 
our holy faith. Nazarius embraced it with so much ardor 
that he copied in his life all the great virtues he saw in his 
teachers; and out of zeal for the salvation of others, he 
left Eome, his native city, and preached the Faith in many 
places with a fervor and disinterestedness becoming a 
disciple of the apostles. Arriving at Milan, he was there 
beheaded for the Faith, together with Celsus, a youth 
whom he carried with him to assist him in his travels. 
These martyrs suffered soon after Nero had raised the 
first persecution. Their bodies were buried separately in 
a garden without the city, where they were discovered and 
taken up by St. Ambrose, in 395. In the tomb of St. 
Nazarius, a vial of the Saint's blood was found as fresh 
and red as if it had been spilt that day. The faithful 
stained handkerchiefs with some drops, and also formed a 
certain paste with it, a portion of which St. Ambrose sent 
to St. G-audentius, Bishop of Brescia. St. Ambrose con- 




264 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[July 29 



veyed the bodies of the two martyrs into the new church 
of the apostles, which he had just built. A woman was 
delivered of an evil spirit in their presence. St. Ambrose 
sent some of these relies to St. Paulinus of Kola, who re- 
ceived them with great respect, as a most valuable present, 
as he testifies. 

Reflection. — The martyrs died as the outcasts of the 
world, but are crowned by God with immortal honor. The 
glory of the world is false and transitory, and an empty 
bubble or shadow, but that of virtue is true, solid, and 
permanent, even in the eyes of men. 

July 29. — ST. MARTHA, Virgin. 

t. John tells us that " Jesus loved Martha and Mary 
and Lazarus," and yet but few glimpses are vouch- 
safed us of them. First, the sisters are set before us with 
a word. Martha received Jesus into her house, and was 
busy in outward, loving, lavish service, while Mary sat in 
silence at the feet she had bathed with her tears. Then, 
their brother is ill, and they send to Jesus, "Lord, he 
whom Thou lovest is sick." And in His own time the Lord 
came, and they go out to meet Him; and then follows 
that scene of unutterable tenderness and of sublimity un- 
surpassed: the silent waiting of Mary; Martha strong in 
faith, but realizing so vividly, with her practical turn of 
mind, the fact of death, and hesitating : " Canst Thou 
show Thy wonders in the grave ? 99 And then once again, 
on the eve of His Passion, we see Jesus at Bethany. 
Martha, true to her character, is serving; Mary, as at first, 
pours the precious ointment, in adoration and love, on 
His divine head. And then we find the tomb of St. 
Martha, at Taraseon, in Provence. When the storm of 
persecution came, the family of Bethany, with a few com- 
panions, were put into a boat, without oars or sail, and 
borne to the coast of Prance. St. Mary's tomb is at St. 
Baume; St. Lazarus is venerated as the founder of the 
Church of Marseilles; and the memory of the virtues and 
labors of St. Martha is still fragrant at Avignon and 
Taraseon. 




July 30] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



265 



Reflection. — When Martha received Jesus into her 
house, she was naturally busy in preparations for such a 
Guest. Mary sat at His feet, intent alone on listening to 
His gracious words. Her sister thought that the time 
required other service than this, and asked our Lord to bid 
Mary help in serving. Once again Jesus spoke in defence 
of Mary. "Martha, Martha/' He said, "thou art lov- 
ingly anxious about many things; be not over-eager; do 
thy chosen work with recollectedness. Judge not Mary. 
Hers is the good part, the one only thing really necessary. 
Thine will be taken away, that something better be given 
thee." The life of action ceases when the body is laid 
down; but the life of contemplation endures and is per- 
fected in heaven. 



July 30.— ST. GERMANUS, Bishop. 

IK his youth Germanus gave little sign of sanctity. 
He was of noble birth, and at first practised the 
law at Rome. After a time the emperor placed him high 
in the army. But his one passion was the chase. He was 
so carried away as even to retain in his sports the super- 
stitions of the pagan huntsmen. Yet it was revealed to 
the Bishop of Auxerre that Germanus would be his suc- 
cessor, and he gave him the tonsure almost by main force. 
Forthwith Germanus became another man, and, making 
over his lands to the Church, adopted a life of humble 
penance. At that time the Pelagian heresy was laying 
waste England, and Germanus was chosen by the reigning 
Pontiff to rescue the Britons from the snare of Satan. 
With St. Lupus he preached in the fields and highways 
throughout the land. At last, near Yerulam, he met the 
heretics face to face, and overcame them utterly with the 
Catholic and Eoman faith. He ascribed this triumph to 
the intercession of St. Alban, and offered public thanks at 
his shrine. Towards the end of his stay, his old skill in 
arms won over the Picts and Scots the complete but blood- 
less " Alleluia " victory, so called because the newly-bap- 
tized Britons, led by the Saint, routed the enemy with 
the Paschal cry. Germanus visited England a second 



266 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



[July 31 



time with St. Severus. He died in 448, while inter- 
ceding with the emperor for the people of Brittany. 

Reflection. — "Hold the form of sound words, which 
thou hast heard of me in faith, and in the love which is in 
Christ Jesus 99 (II. Tim. i. 13). 

July 31.— ST. IGNATIUS OP LOYOLA. 

t. Ignatius was born at Loyola in Spain, in the year 
1491. He served his king as a courtier and a sol- 
dier till his thirtieth year. At that age, being laid low by 
a wound, he received the call of divine grace to leave the 
world. He embraced poverty and humiliation, that he 
might become more like to Christ, and won others to join 
him in the service of God. Prompted by their love for 
Jesus Christ, Ignatius and his companions made a vow to 
go to the Holy Land, but war broke out, and prevented the 
execution of their project. Then they turned to the Vicar 
of Jesus Christ, and placed themselves under his obedi- 
ence. This was the beginning of the Society of Jesus. 
Our Lord promised St. Ignatius that the precious heritage 
of His Passion should never fail his .Society, a heritage of 
contradictions and persecutions. .St. Ignatius was cast 
into prison at Salamanca, on a suspicion of heresy. To a 
friend who expressed sympathy with him on account of 
his imprisonment, he replied, " It is a sign that you have 
but little love of Christ in your heart, or you would not 
deem it so hard a fate to be in chains for His sake. I 
declare to you that all Salamanca does not contain as 
many fetters, manacles, and chains as I long to wear for 
the love of Jesus Christ." St. Ignatius went to his crown 
on the 31st July, 1556. 

Reflection. — Ask St. Ignatius to obtain for you the 
grace to desire ardently the greater glory of God, even 
though it may cost you much suffering and humiliation. 




August 1] 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



267 



August i.— ST. PETER'S CHAINS. 

erod Agrippa, King of the Jews, having put to death 
St. James the Great in the year 44^ in order to gain 
the affection and applause of his people, caused St. Peter, 
the prince of the sacred college, to be cast into prison. 
It was his intention to put him publicly to death after 
Easter. The whole Church at Jerusalem put up its 
prayers to God for the deliverance of the chief pastor of 
His whole flock, and God favorably heard them. The king 
took all precautions possible to prevent 1 the escape of his 
prisoner. St. Peter lay fast asleep, on the very night 
before the day intended for his execution, when it pleased 
God to deliver him out of the hands of his enemies. He 
was guarded by sixteen soldiers, four of whom always kept 
sentry in their turns : two in the same dungeon with him, 
and two at the gate. He was fastened to the ground by 
two chains, and slept between the two soldiers. In the 
middle of the night, a bright light shone in the prison, and 
an angel appeared near him, and, striking him on the side, 
awaked him out of his sleep, and bade him instantly arise, 
gird his coat about him, put on his sandals and his cloak, 
and follow him. The apostle did so, for the chains had 
dropped off from his hands. Following his guide, he 
passed after him through the first and second wards of 
watches, and through the iron gate which led into the city, 
which opened to them of its own accord. The angel con- 
ducted him through one street, then, suddenly disappear- 
ing, left him to seek some asylum. The apostle went 
directly to the house of Mary the mother of John, sur- 
named Mark, where several disciples were met together, 
and were sending up their prayers to heaven for his de- 
liverance. As he stood knocking without, a young woman, 
knowing Peter's voice, ran in and informed the company 
that he was at the door; they concluded it must be his 
guardian angel, sent by God upon some extraordinary 
account, until, being let in, he related to them the whole 
manner of his miraculous escape; and having enjoined 
them to give notice thereof to St. James and the rest of 
the brethren, he withdrew to a place of more retirement 




268 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [August 2 



and security, carrying, wherever he went, the heavenly 
blessing and life. 

Reflection. — This miracle affords a confirmation of the 
divine promise, " If two of yon shall consent upon earth 
concerning anything whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be 
done to them by My Father Who is in heaven." 

August 2. — ST. STEPHEN, Pope and Martyr. 

t. Stephen was by birth a Eoman, and, being pro- 
moted to holy orders, was made archdeacon nnder 
the holy Popes St. Cornelius and St. Lucius. The latter 
having suffered martyrdom, St. Stephen was chosen to 
succeed him, and was elected Pope on the 3d of May, 253. 
The controversy concerning the rebaptization of heretics 
gave St. Stephen much trouble. It is the teaching of the 
Catholic Church, that Baptism given in the name of the 
three persons of the Blessed Trinity is valid, though it 
be conferred by a heretic. St. Stephen suffered himself 
patiently to be traduced as a favorer of heresy in approving 
heretical baptism, not doubting but those great men who 
by mistaken zeal were led astray would, when the heat of 
the dispute had subsided, calmly open their eyes to the 
truth. Thus by his zeal he preserved the integrity of faith, 
and by his toleration and forbearance saved many souls. 
Tte persecutions becoming violent, he assembled the faith- 
ful together in the underground tombs of the martyrs, to 
celebrate Mass and to exhort them to remain true to Christ. 
On the 2d of August, 257, while seated in his pontifical 
chair, he was beheaded by the satellites of the emperor; 
and the chair is still shown, stained with his blood. 

ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI. 

t. Alphonsus was born of noble parents, near Naples, 
in 1696. His spiritual training was intrusted to the 
Fathers of the Oratory in that city, and from his boy- 
hood Alphonsus was known as a most devout Brother of the 
Little Oratory. At the early age of sixteen he was made 





August 2] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



269 



doctor in law, and he threw himself into this career with 
ardor and success. A mistake, by which he lost an im- 
portant cause, showed him the vanity of human fame, and 
determined him to labor only for the glory of God. He 
entered the priesthood, devoting himself to the most neg- 
lected souls; and to carry on this work he founded later 
the missionary Congregation of the Most Holy Eedeemer. 
At the age of sixty-six he became Bishop of St. Agatha, 
and undertook the reform of his diocese with the zeal of a 
Saint. He made a vow never to lose time, and, though his 
life was spent in prayer and work, he composed a vast 
number of books, filled with such science, unction, and 
wisdom that he has been declared one of the Doctors of the 
Church. St. Alphonsus wrote his first book at the age of 
forty-nine, and in his eighty- third year had published 
about sixty volumes, when his director forbade him to 
write more. Very many of these books were written in the 
half -hours snatched from his labors as missionary, religious 
superior, and Bishop, or in the midst of continual bodily 
and mental sufferings. With his left hand he would hold 
a piece of marble against his aching head while his right 
hand wrote. Yet he counted no time wasted which was 
spent in charity. He did not refuse to hold a long corre- 
spondence with a simple soldier who asked his advice, or 
to play the harpsichord while he taught his novices to sing 
spiritual canticles. He lived in evil times, and met with 
many persecutions and disappointments. For his last 
seven years he was prevented by constant sickness from 
offering the Adorable Sacrifice; but he received Holy Com- 
munion daily, and his love for Jesus Christ and his trust 
in Mary's prayers sustained him to the end. He died in 
1787, in his ninety-first year. 

Reflection. — Let us do with all our heart the duty of 
each day, leaving the result to God, as well as the care of 
the future. 



270 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [August 3 



August 3.— THE FINDING OF ST. STEPHEN'S 

RELICS. 

l^xHis second festival in honor of the holy protomartyr 
\mJ St. Stephen was instituted by the Church on the 
occasion of the discovery of his precious remains. His 
body lay long concealed, under the ruins of an old tomb, 
in a place twenty miles from Jerusalem, called Capharga- 
mala, where stood a church which was served by a vener- 
able priest named Lucian. In the year 415, on Friday, the 
3d of December, about nine o'clock at night, Lucian was 
sleeping in his bed in the baptistery, where he commonly 
lay in order to guard the sacred vessels of the church. 
Being half awake, he saw a tall, comely old man of a 
venerable aspect, who approached him, and, calling him 
thrice by his name, bid him go to Jerusalem and tell 
Bishop John to come and open the tombs in which his re- j 
mains and those of certain other servants of Christ lay, 
that through their means God might open to many the 
gates of His clemency. This vision was repeated twice. 
After the second time, Lucian went to Jerusalem and laid 
the whole affair before Bishop J ohn, who bade him go and 
search for the relics, which, the Bishop concluded, would ] 
be found under a heap of small stones which lay in a field 
near his church. In digging up the earth here, three 
coffins or chests were found. Lucian sent immediately to 
acquaint Bishop John with this. He was then at the | 
Council of Diospolis, and, taking along with him Eutonius, 
Bishop of Sebaste, and Eleutherius, Bishop of Jericho, 1 
came to the place. Upon the opening of St. Stephen's 
coffin the earth shook, and there came out of the coffin i 
such an agreeable odor that no one remembered to have 
ever smelled anything like it. There was a vast multitude | 
of people assembled in that place, among whom were many 
persons afflicted with divers distempers, of whom seventy- 
three recovered their health upon the spot. They kissed 
the holy relics, and then shut them up. The Bishop con- 
sented to leave a small portion of them at Caphargamala ; 
the rest were carried in the coffin, with singing of psalms 
and hymns, to the Church of Sion at Jerusalem. The | 



August 4] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



271 



translation was performed on the 26th of December, on 
which day the Church hath ever since honored the memory 
of St. Stephen, commemorating the discovery of his relics 
on the 3d of August probably on account of the dedication 
of some church in his honor. 

Reflection. — St. Austin, speaking of the miracles of St. 
Stephen, addresses himself to his flock as follows: "Let 
us so desire to obtain temporal blessings by his intercession 
that we may merit, in imitating him, those which are 
eternal." 

August 4. — ST. DOMINIC. 

/j58[t. Dominic was born in Spain, in 1170. As a stu- 
C-x dent, he sold his books to feed the poor in a famine, 
and offered himself in ransom for a slave. At the age of 
twenty-five he became superior of the Canons Regular of 
Osma, and accompanied his Bishop to France. There his 
heart was well-nigh broken by the ravages of the Albigen- 
sian heresy, and his life was henceforth devoted to the con- 
version of heretics and the defence of the Faith. For this 
end he established his threefold religious Order. The 
convent for nuns was founded first, to rescue young girls 
from heresy and crime. Then a company of apostolic men 
gathered around him, and became the Order of Friar 
Preachers. Lastly came the Tertiaries, persons of both 
sexes living in the world. God blessed the new Order, and 
France, Italy, Spain, and England wekomed the Preaching 
Friars. Our Lady took them under her special protection, 
and whispered to St. Dominic as he preached. It was in 
1208, while St. Dominic knelt in the little chapel of Notre 
Dame de la Prouille, and implored the great Mother of God 
to save the Church, that Our Lady appeared to him. gave 
him the Eosary, and bade him go forth and preach. Beads 
in hand, he revived the courage of the Catholic troops, led 
them to victory against overwhelming numbers, and finally 
crushed the heresy. His nights were spent in prayer : and, 
though pure as a virgin, thrice before morning broke he 
scourged himself to blood. His words rescued countless 
souls, and three times raised the dead to life. At length, 



272 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [August 5 



on August 6, 1221, at the age of fifty-one, he gave up his 
soul to God. 

Reflection. — " God has never/' said St. Dominic, " re- 
fused me what I have asked and he has left us the 
Eosary, that we may learn, with Mary's help, to pray easily 
and simply in the same holy trust. 

August 5. — THE DEDICATION OF ST. MARY 
AD NIVES. 

^\HERE are in Home three patriarchal churches, in which 
\*J the Pope officiates on different festivals. These are 
the Basilics of St. John Lateran, St. Peter's on the Vatican 
Hill, and St. Mary Major. This last is so called because it 
is, both in antiquity and dignity, the first church in Eome 
among those that are dedicated to God in honor of the 
Virgin Mary. The name of the Liberian Basilic was given 
it because it was founded in the time of Pope Liberius, in 
the fourth century; it was consecrated, under the title of 
the Virgin Mary, by Sixtus III., about the year 435. It is 
also called St. Mary ad Mves, or at the snow, from a popu- 
lar tradition that the Mother of God chose this place for a 
church under her invocation b}^ a miraculous snow that 
fell upon this spot in summer, and by a vision in which she 
appeared to a patrician named John, who munificently 
founded and endowed this church in the pontificate of 
Liberius. The same Basilic has sometimes been known by 
the name of St. Man^ ad Prcesepe, from the holy crib or 
manger of Bethlehem, in which Christ was laid at His 
birth. It resembles an ordinary manger, is kept in a case 
of massive silver, and in it lies an image of a little child, 
also of silver. On Christmas Day the holy manger is 
taken out of the case, and exposed. It is kept in a sumptu- 
ous subterraneous chapel in this church. 

Reflection. — To render our supplications the more effi- 
cacious, we ought to unite them in spirit to those of all 
fervent penitents and devout souls, in invoking this ad- 
vocate for sinners. 



August 6] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



273 



August 6.— THE TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR 

LORD. 

Our divine Eedeemer, being in Galilee about a year 
before His sacred Passion, took with Him St. Peter 
and the two sons of Zebedee, Sts. James and John, and led 
them to a retired mountain. Tradition assures us that this 
was Mount Thabor, which is exceedingly high and beauti- 
ful, and was anciently covered with green trees and shrubs, 
and was very fruitful. It rises something like a sugar-loaf, 
in a vast plain in the middle of Galilee. This was the 
place in which the Man-God appeared in His glory. Whilst 
Jesus prayed, He suffered that glory which was always due 
to His sacred humility, and of which, for our sake, He de- 
prived it, to diffuse a ray over His whole body. His face 
was altered and shone as the sun, and His garments became 
white as snow. Moses and Elias were seen by the three 
apostles in His company on this occasion, and were heard 
discoursing with Him of the death which He was to suffer 
in Jerusalem. The three apostles were wonderfully de- 
lighted with this glorious vision, and St. Peter cried out to 
Christ, " Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us make 
three tents: one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for 
Elias." Whilst St. Peter was speaking, there came, on a 
sudden, a bright shining cloud from heaven, an emblem of 
the presence of God's majesty, and from out of this cloud 
was heard a voice which said, " This is My beloved Son, in 
Whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him." The apostles 
that were present, upon hearing this voice, were seized with 
a sudden fear, and fell upon the ground ; but Jesus, going 
to them, touched them, and bade them to rise. They 
immediately did so, and saw no one but Jesus standing in 
his ordinary state. This vision happened in the night. 
As they went down the mountain early the next morning, 
Jesus bade them not to tell any one what they had seen till 
He should be risen from the dead. 

Reflection. — From the contemplation of this glorious 
mystery we ought to conceive a true idea of future happi- 
ness; if this once possess our souls, we will think nothing 



274 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [August 7 



of any difficulties or labors we can meet with here, but 
regard with great indifference all the goods and evils of 
this life, provided we can but secure our portion in the 
kingdom of God's glory. 



August 7.— ST. CAJETAN. 

Cajetan was born at Vicenza, in 1480, of pious and 
noble parents, who dedicated him to our blessed 
Lady. From childhood he was known as the Saint, and in 
later years as "the hunter of souls." A distinguished 
student, he left his native town to seek obscurity in Eome, 
but was there forced to accept office at the court of Julius 
II. On the death of that Pontiff he returned to Vicenza, 
and disgusted his relatives by joining the Confraternity of 
St. Jerome, whose members were drawn from the lowest 
classes; while he spent his fortune in building hospitals, 
and devoted himself to nursing the plague-stricken. To 
renew the lives of the clergy, he instituted the first com- 
munity of Eegular Clerks, known as Theatines. They de- 
voted themselves to preaching, the administration of the 
sacraments, and the careful performance of the Church's 
rites and ceremonies. St. Cajetan was the first to intro- 
duce the Forty Hours' Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, 
as an antidote to the heresy of Calvin. He had a most 
tender love for our blessed Lady, and his piety was re- 
warded, for one Christmas eve she placed the Infant Jesus 
in his arms. When the Germans, under the Constable 
Bourbon, sacked Eome, St. Cajetan was barbarously 
scourged, to extort from him riches which he had long 
before securely stored in heaven. When St. Cajetan was 
on his death-bed, resigned to the will of God, eager for 
pain to satisfy his love, and for death to attain to life, he 
beheld the Mother of God, radiant with splendor and sur- 
rounded by ministering seraphim. In profound venera- 
tion, he said, " Lady, bless me ! " Mary replied, " Cajetan, 
receive the blessing of my Son, and know that I am here as 
a reward for the sincerity of your love, and to lead you to 
paradise." She then exhorted him to patience in fighting 
an evil spirit who troubled him, and gave orders to the 



August 8] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



275 



choirs of angels to escort his soul in triumph to heaven. 
Then, turning her countenance full of majesty and sweet- 
ness upon him, she said, " Cajetan, my Son calls thee. 
Let us go in peace." Worn out with toil and sickness, he 
went to his reward in 1547. 

Reflection. — Imitate St. Cajetan's devotion to our 
blessed Lady, by invoking her aid before every work. 

August 8.— ST. CYRIACUS and His Companions, 
Martyrs. 

t. Cyriacus was a holy deacon at Eome, under the 
Popes Marcellinus and Marcellus. In the persecu- 
tion of Diocletian, in 303, he was crowned with a glorious 
martyrdom in that city. With him suffered also Largus 
and Smaragdus, and twenty others. Their bodies were 
first buried near the place of their execution, on the Sala- 
rian Way, but were soon after removed to a farm of the 
devout Lady Lueina, on the Ostian Eoad, on the eighth 
day of August. 

Reflection. — To honor the martyrs and duly celebrate 
their festivals, we must learn their spirit and study to 
imitate them according to the circumstances of our state. 
We must, like them, resist evil, must subdue our passions, 
suffer afflictions with patience, and bear with others with- 
out murmuring or complaining. The cross is the ladder 
by which we must ascend to heaven. 

BLESSED PETER FAVRE. 

orist in 1506 of poor Savoyard shepherds, Peter, at 
his earnest request, was sent to school, and in after 
years to the University of Paris. His college friends were 
St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Francis Xavier. Ignatius 
found the young man's heart ready for his thoughts of 
apostolic zeal; Peter became his first companion, and in 
the year of England's revolt was ordained the first priest 
of the new Society of Jesus. Prom that day to the close 
of his life he was ever in the van of the Church's strug- 





276 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [August 9 



gles with falsehood and sin. Boldly facing heresy in 
Germany, he labored not less diligently to rouse up the 
dormant faith and charity of Catholic courts and Catholic 
lands. The odor of Blessed Peter's virtues drew after him 
into religion the Duke of Gandia, Francis Borgia, and a 
young student of Mmeguen, Peter Canisius, both to be- 
come Saints like their master. The Pope, Paul III., had 
chosen Blessed Favre to be his theologian at the Council of 
Trent, and King John III., of Portugal, wished to send 
him as patriarch and apostle into Abyssinia. Sick and 
worn with labor, but obedient unto death, the father has- 
tened back to Eome, where his last illness came upon him. 
He died, in his fortieth year, as one would wish to die, in 
the very arms of his best friend and spiritual father, St. 
Ignatius. 

Reflection. — As the body sinks under fatigue unless 
supported by food, so external works, however holy, wear 
out the soul which is not regularly nourished by prayer. 
In the most crowded day we can make time briefly and 
secretly to lift our soul to God and draw new strength 
from Him. 



August 9. — ST. ROMANUS, Martyr. 

T. Eomanus was a soldier in Eome at the time of the 
martyrdom of St. Laurence. Seeing the joy and 
constancy with which that holy martyr suffered his tor- 
ments, he was moved to embrace the Faith, and addressing 
himself to St. Laurence, was instructed and baptized by 
him in prison. Confessing aloud what he had done, he 
was arraigned, condemned, and beheaded the day before 
the martyrdom of St. Laurence. Thus he arrived at his 
crown before his guide and master. The body of St. 
Eomanus was first buried on the road to Tibur, but his 
remains were translated to Lucca, where they are kept 
under the high altar of a beautiful church which bears his 
name. 

Reflection. — We are bound to glorify God by our lives, 
and Christ commands that our good works shine before 




August 10] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



277 



men. It was the usual saying of the apostle St. Matthias, 
" The faithful sins if his neighbor sins." Such ought to 
be the zeal of every one to instruct and edify his neighbor 
by word and example. 

August io.— ST. LAURENCE, Martyr. 

t. Laurence was the chief among the seven deacons 
of the Roman Church. In the year 258 Pope Sixtus 
was led out to die, and St. Laurence stood by, weeping 
that he could not share his fate. " I was your minister," 
he said, "when you consecrated the blood of Our Lord; 
why do you leave me behind now that you are about to 
shed your own?" The holy Pope comforted him with 
the words, " Do not weep, my son ; in three days you will 
follow me." This prophecy came true. The prefect of 
the city knew the rich offerings which the Christians put 
into the hands of the clergy, and he demanded the treas- 
ures of the Roman Church from Laurence, their guardian. 
The Saint promised, at the end of three days, to show 
him riches exceeding all the wealth of the empire, and 
set about collecting the poor, the infirm, and the religious 
who lived by the alms of the faithful. He then bade the 
prefect ec see the treasures of the Church." Christ, whom 
Laurence had served in his poor, gave him strength in the 
conflict which ensued. Eoasted over a slow fire, he made 
sport of his pains. " I am done enough," he said, " eat, 
if you will." At length Christ, the Father of the poor, 
received him into eternal habitations. God showed by the 
glory which shone around St. Laurence the value He set 
upon his love for the poor. Prayers innumerable were 
granted at his tomb; and he continued from his throne 
in heaven his charity to those in need, granting them, 
as St. Augustine says, "the smaller graces which they 
sought, and leading them to the desire of better gifts." 

Reflection. — Our Lord appears before us in the persons 
of the poor. Charity to them is a great sign of predestina- 
tion. It is almost impossible, the holy Fathers assure us, 
for any one who is charitable to the poor for Christ's sake 
to perish. 




278 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [August 12 



August ii.— STS. TIBURTIUS and SUSANNA, 
Martyrs. 

grestius Chromatius was vicar to the prefect of 
Home, and had condemned several martyrs in the 
reign of Carinus; and in the first years of Diocletian, St. 
Tranquillinus, being brought before him, assured him that, 
having been afflicted with the gout, he had recovered a 
perfect state of health by being baptized. Chromatius 
was troubled with the same distemper, and being con- 
vinced by this miracle of the truth of the Gospel, sent for 
a priest, and, receiving the Sacrament of Baptism, was 
freed from that corporal infirmity. Chromatius's son, 
Tiburtius, was ordained subdeacon, and was soon after 
betrayed to the persecutors, condemned to many torments, 
and at length beheaded on the Lavican Eoad, three miles 
from Home, where a church was afterward built. His 
father, Chromatius, retiring into the country, lived there 
concealed, in the fervent practice of all Christian virtues. 

St. Susanna was nobly born in Eome, and is said to 
have been niece to Pope Caius. Having made a vow of 
virginity, she refused to marry, on which account she was 
impeached as a Christian, and suffered with heroic con- 
stancy a cruel martyrdom. St. Susanna suffered towards 
the beginning of Diocletian's reign, about the year 295. 

Reflection. — Sufferings were to the martyrs the most 
distinguishing mercy, extraordinary graces, and sources of 
the greatest crowns and glory. All afflictions which God 
sends are in like manner the greatest mercies and bless- 
ings ; they are the most precious talents to be improved by 
us to the increasing of our love and affection to God, and 
the exercise of the most heroic virtues of self-denial, pa- 
tience, humility, resignation, and penance. 

August 12. — ST. CLARE, Abbess. 

ON Palm Sunday, March 17, 1212, the Bishop of Assisi 
left the altar to present a palm to a noble maiden, 
eighteen years of age, whom bashfulness had detained in 
her place. This maiden was St. Clare. Already she had 




August 13] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



279 



learnt from St. Francis to hate the world, and was secretly 
resolved to live for God alone. The same night she es- 
caped, with one companion, to the Church of the Por- 
tiuncula, where she was met by St. Francis and his 
brethren. At the altar of Our Lady, St. Francis cut off 
her hair, clothed her in his habit of penance, a piece of 
sack-cloth, with his cord as a girdle. Thus she was es- 
poused to Christ. In a miserable house outside Assisi she 
founded her Order, and was joined by her sister, fourteen 
years of age, and afterwards by her mother and other 
noble ladies. They went barefoot, observed perpetual 
abstinence, constant silence, and perfect poverty. While 
the Saracen army of Frederick II. was ravaging the valley 
of Spoleto, a body of infidels advanced to assault St. 
Clarets convent, which stood outside Assisi. The Saint 
caused the Blessed Sacrament to be placed in a monstrance, 
above the gate of the monastery facing the enemy, and 
kneeling before it, pra}^ed, " Deliver not to beasts, 0 Lord, 
the souls of those who confess to Thee." A voice from the 
Host replied, " My protection will never fail you/'' A 
sudden panic seized the infidel host, which took to flight, 
and the Saint's convent was spared. During her illness 
of twenty-eight years the Holy Eucharist was her only 
support and spinning linen for the altar the one work of 
her hands. She died in 1253, as the Passion was being 
read, and Our Lady and the angels conducted her to glory. 

Reflection. — In a luxurious and effeminate age, the 
daughters of St. Clare still bear the noble title of poor, 
and preach by their daily lives the poverty of Jesus Christ. 

August 13. — ST. RADEGUNDES, Queen. 

t. Eadegundes was the daughter of a king of Thurin- 
gia who was assassinated by his brother; a war en- 
suing, our Saint, at the age of twelve, was made prisoner 
and carried captive by Clotaire, King of Soissons, who had 
her instructed in the Christian religion and baptized. The 
great mysteries of our Faith made such an impression on 
her tender soul that she gave herself to God with her whole 
heart, and desired to consecrate to him her virginity; she 




280 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [August 14 



was obliged at last, however, to yield to the king's wish 
that she should become his wife. As a great queen, she 
continued no less an enemy to sloth and vanity than she 
was before, and divided her time chiefly between her ora- 
tory, the Church, and the care of the poor. She also kept 
long fasts, and during Lent wore a hair-cloth under her 
rich garments. Clot aire was at first pleased with her de- 
votions, and allowed her full liberty in them, but afterward 
used frequently to reproach her for her pious exercises, 
saying he had married a nun rather than a queen, who 
converted his court into a monastery. Seeing that Clotaire 
was inflamed by bad passions, our Saint asked and obtained 
his leave to retire from court. She went to Noyon, and 
was consecrated deaconess by St. Medard. Kadegundes 
first withdrew to Sais, and some time after she went to 
Poitiers, and there built a great monastery. She had a 
holy virgin, named Agnes, made the first abbess, and paid 
to her an implicit obedience in all things, not reserving to 
herself the disposal of the least thing. King Clotaire, re- 
penting of his evil conduct, wished her to return to court, 
but, through the intercession of St. Germanus of Paris, she 
was allowed to remain in her retirement, where she died 
on the 13th of August, 587. 



August 14.— ST. EUSEBIUS, Priest. 

he Church celebrates this day the memory of St. 
Eusebius, who opposed the Arians, at Borne, with so 
much zeal. He was imprisoned in his room by order of 
the Emperor Constantius, and sanctified his captivity by 
constant prayer. Another Saint of the same name, a 
priest and martyr, is commemorated on this day. In the 
reign of Diocletian and Maximian, before they had pub- 
lished any new edicts against the Christians, Eusebius, a 
holy priest, a man eminently endowed with the spirit of 
prayer and all apostolical virtues, suffered death for the 
Faith, probably in Palestine. The Emperor Maximian 
happening to be in that country, complaint was made to 
Maxentius, president of the province, that Eusebius dis- 
tinguished himself by his zeal in invoking and preaching 




August 15] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



281 



Christ, and the holy man was seized. Maximian was by- 
birth a barbarian, and one of the roughest and most brutal 
and savage of all men. Yet the undaunted and modest 
virtue of this stranger, set off by a heavenly grace, struck 
him with awe. He desired to save the servant of Christ, 
but, like Pilate, would not give himself any trouble or 
hazard incurring the displeasure of those whom on all 
other occasions he despised. Maxentius commanded Euse- 
bius to sacrifice to the gods, and on the Saint refusing, the 
president condemned him to be beheaded. Eusebius, hear- 
ing the sentence pronounced, said aloud, " I thank Your 
goodness and praise Your power, 0 Lord Jesus Christ, 
that, by calling me to the trial of my fidelity, You have 
treated me as one of Yours/ 5 He at that instant heard a 
voice from heaven saying to him, " If you had not been 
found worthy to suffer, you could not be admitted into the 
court of Christ or to the seats of the just/ 5 Being come to 
the place of execution, he knelt down, and his head was 
struck off. 

Reflection. — Let us learn, from the example of the 
Saints, courage in the service of God. He calls upon us to 
endure suffering of body and of mind, if it is necessary, to 
prove our fidelity to Him ; and He promises to support us 
by His strength, His light, and His heavenly consolation. 

August 15.— THE ASSUMPTION OF THE 
BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 

this festival the Church commemorates the happy 
\*S departure from life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and 
her translation into the kingdom of her Son, in which she 
received from Him a crown of immortal glory, and a throne 
above all the other Saints and heavenly spirits. After 
Christ, as the triumphant Conqueror of death and hell, 
ascended into heaven, His blessed Mother remained at 
Jerusalem, persevering in prayer with the disciples, till, 
with them, she had received the Holy Ghost. She lived to 
a very advanced age, but finally paid the common debt of 
nature, none among the children of Adam being exempt 
from that rigorous law. But the death of the Saints is 



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LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [August 16 



rather to be called a sweet sleep than death; much more 
that of the Queen of Saints, who had been exempt from all 
sin. It is a traditionary pious belief, that the body of the 
Blessed Virgin was raised by God soon after her death, 
and taken up to glory, by a singular privilege, before the 
general resurrection of the dead. The Assumption of the 
Blessed Virgin Mary is the 'greatest of all the festivals 
which the Church celebrates in her honor. It is the con- 
summation of all the other great mysteries by which her 
life was rendered most wonderful; it is the birthday of 
her true greatness and glory, and the crowning of all the 
virtues of her whole life, which we admire single in her 
other festivals. 

Reflection. — Whilst we contemplate, in profound senti- 
ments of veneration, astonishment, and praise, the glory 
to which Mary is raised by her triumph on this day, we 
ought, for our own advantage, to consider by what means 
she arrived at this sublime degree of honor and happiness, 
that we may walk in her steps. No other way is open to 
us. The same path which conducted her to glory will also 
lead us thither; we shall be partners in her reward if we 
copy her virtues. 

August 16.— ST. HYACINTH. 

yacinth, the glorious apostle of Poland and Eussia, 
was, born of noble parents in Poland, about the year 
1185. In 1218, being already Canon of Cracow, he ac- 
companied his uncle, the bishop of that place, to Eome. 
There he met St. Dominic, and received the habit of the 
Friar Preachers from the patriarch himself, of whom he 
became a living copy. So wonderful was his progress in 
virtue that within a year Dominic sent him to preach and 
plant the Order in Poland, where he founded two houses. 
His apostolic journeys extended over numerous regions. 
Austria, Bohemia, Livonia, the shores of the Black Sea, 
Tartary, and Northern China on the east, and Sweden and 
Norway to the west, were evangelized by him, and he is 
said to have visited Scotland. Everywhere multitudes 
were converted, churches and convents were built; one 




August 17] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



283 



hundred and twenty thousand pagans and infidels were 
baptized by his hands. He worked numerous miracles, 
and at Cracow raised a dead youth to life. He had in- 
herited from St. Dominic a most filial confidence in the 
Mother of God ; to her he ascribed his success, and to her 
aid he looked for his salvation. When St. Hyacinth was 
at Kiev the Tartars sacked the town, but it was only as he 
finished Mass that the Saint heard of the danger. With- 
out waiting to unvest, he took the ciborium in his hands, 
and was leaving the church. As he passed by an image of 
Mary a voice said : " Hyacinth, my son, why dost thou 
leave me behind ? Take me with thee, and leave me not to 
mine enemies." The statue was of heavy alabaster, but 
when Hyacinth took it in his arms it was light as a reed. 
With the Blessed Sacrament and the image he came to the 
river Dnieper, and walked dry-shod over the surface of the 
waters. On the eve of the Assumption he was warned of 
his coming death. In spite of a wasting fever, he cele- 
brated Mass on the feast, and communicated as a dying 
man. He was anointed at the foot of the altar, and died 
the same day, 1257. 

Reflection. — St. Hyacinth teaches us to employ every 
effort in the service of God, and to rely for success not on 
our own industry, but on the prayer of His Immaculate 
Mother. 

August 17.— ST. LIBERATUS, Abbot, and Six 
Monks, Martyrs. 

uneric, the Arian Vandal king in Africa, in the 
seventh year of his reign, published fresh edicts 
against the Catholics, and ordered their monasteries to be 
everywhere demolished. Seven monks, named Liberatus, 
Boniface, Servus, Eusticus, Eogatus, Septimus, and Maxi- 
mus, who lived in a monastery near Capsa, in the province 
of Byzacena, were at that time summoned to Carthage. 
They were first tempted with great promises, but as they 
remained constant in the belief of the Trinity, and of one 
Baptism, they were loaded with irons and thrown into a 
dark dungeon. The faithful, having bribed the guards, 




284 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [August 18 



visited the Saints day and night, to be instructed by them 
and mutually to encourage one another to suffer for the 
faith of Christ. The king, learning this, commanded them 
to be more closely confined, loaded with heavier irons, and 
tortured with a cruelty never heard of till that time. Soon 
after, he condemned them to be put into an old ship and 
burnt at sea. The martyrs walked cheerfully to the shore, 
-contemning the insults of the Arians as they passed along. 
Particular endeavors were used by the persecutors to gain 
Maximus, who was very young; but God, Who makes the 
tongues of children eloquent to praise His name, gave him 
strength to withstand all their efforts, and he boldly told 
them that they should never be able to separate him from 
his holy abbot and brethren, with whom he had borne the 
labors of a penitential life for the sake of everlasting glory. 
An old vessel was filled with dry sticks, and the seven 
martyrs were put on board and bound on the wood; and 
fire was put to it several times, but it went out immediately, 
and all endeavors to kindle it were in vain. The tyrant, in 
rage and confusion, gave orders that the martyrs' brains 
should be dashed out with oars, which was done, and their 
bodies cast into the sea, which threw them all on the shore. 
The Catholics interred them honorably in the monastery of 
Bigua, near the Church of St. Celerinus. They suffered 
in the year 483. 

Reflection. — " Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or 
a thief, or a railer, or a coveter of other men's things; 
but if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him 
glorify God in that name." 

August 1 8. — ST. HELENA, Empress; ST. AGAPE- 
TUS, Martyr. 

XT was the pious boast of the city of Colchester, Eng- 
land, for many ages, that St. Helena was born within 
its walls; and though this honor has been disputed, it is 
certain that she was a British princess. She embraced 
Christianity late in life; but her incomparable faith and 
piety greatly influenced her son Constantine, the first Chris- 
tian emperor, and served to kindle a holy zeal in the 



August 18] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



285 



hearts of the Boman people. Forgetful of her high dig- 
nity, she delighted to assist at the Divine Office amid the 
poor ; and by her alms-deeds showed herself a mother to the 
indigent and distressed. In her eightieth year she made a 
pilgrimage to Jerusalem, with the ardent desire of dis- 
covering the cross on which our blessed Bedeemer suffered. 
After many labors, three crosses were found on Mount 
Calvary, together with the nails and the inscription re- 
corded by the Evangelists. It still remained to identify 
the true cross of Our Lord. By the advice of the bishop, 
Macarius, the three were applied successively to a woman 
afflicted with an incurable disease, and no sooner had the 
third touched her than she arose, perfectly healed. The 
pious empress, transported with joy, built a most glorious 
church on Mount Calvary to receive the precious relic, 
sending portions of it to Borne and Constantinople, where 
they were solemnly exposed to the adoration of the faithful. 
In the year 312 Constantine found himself attacked by 
Maxentius with vastly superior forces, and the very exist- 
ence of his empire threatened. In this crisis he bethought 
him of the crucified Christian God Whom his mother 
Helena worshipped, and kneeling down, prayed God to 
reveal Himself and give him the victory. Suddenly, at 
noonday, a cross of fire was seen by his army in the calm 
and cloudless sky, and beneath it the words, In hoc signo 
vinces — " Through this sign thou shalt conquer." By 
divine command, Constantine made a standard like the 
cross he had seen, which was borne at the head of his 
troops; and under this Christian ensign they marched 
against the enemy, and obtained a complete victory. 
Shortly after, Helena herself returned to Borne, where she 
expired, 328. 

St. Agapetus suffered in his youth a cruel martyrdom 
at Prseneste, now called Palestrina, twenty-four miles from 
Borne, under Aurelian, about the year 275. His name is 
famous in the ancient calendars of the Church of Borne. 
Two churches in Palestrina and others in other places are 
dedicated to God under his name. 

Reflection. — St. Helena thought it the glory of her life 
to find the cross of Christ, and to raise a temple in its 



286 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [August 19 



honor. How many Christians in these days are ashamed 
to make this life-giving sign, and to confess themselves the 
followers of the Crucified ! 



August 19. — ST. LOUIS, Bishop. 

his Saint was little nephew to St. Louis, King of 
France, and nephew, by his mother, to St. Elizabeth 
of Hungary. He was born at Brignoles, in Provence, in 
1274. He was a Saint from the cradle, and from his child- 
hood made it his earnest study to do nothing which was 
not directed to the divine service, and with a view only to 
eternity. Even his recreations he referred to this end, 
and chose only such as were serious and seemed barely 
necessary for the exercise of the body and preserving the 
vigor of the mind. His walks usually led him to some 
church or religious house. It was his chief delight to hear 
the servants of God discourse of mortification or the most 
perfect practices of piety. His modesty and recollection 
in the church inspired with devotion all who saw him. 
When he was only seven years old his mother found him 
often lying in the night on a mat which was spread on the 
floor near his bed, which he did out of an early spirit of 
penance. In 1284 our Saint's father, Charles II., then 
Prince of Salerno, was taken prisoner in a sea-fight by the 
King of Arragon, and was only released on condition that 
he sent into Arragon, as hostages, fifty gentlemen and 
three of his sons, one of whom was our Saint. Louis was 
set at liberty in 1294, by a treaty concluded between the 
King of Naples, his father, and James IL, King of Arra- 
gon, one condition of which was the marriage of his sister 
Blanche with the King of Arragon. Both courts had at 
the same time extremely at heart the project of a double 
marriage, and that the princess of Majorca, sister to King 
James of Arragon, should be married to Louis, but the 
Saint's resolution of dedicating himself to God was in- 
flexible, and he resigned his right to the crown of Naples, 
which he begged his father to confer on his next brother, 
Eobert. The opposition of his family obliged the supe- 
riors of the Friar Minors to refuse for some time to admit 




August 20] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



287 



him into their body, wherefore he took holy orders at 
Naples. The pious Pope St. Celestine had nominated him 
Archbishop of Lyons in 1294; but, as he had not then 
taken the tonsure, he found means to defeat that project. 
Boniface VIII. gave him a dispensation to receive priestly 
orders in the twenty-third year of his age, and afterward 
sent him a like dispensation for the episcopal character, 
together with his nomination to the archbishopric of Tou- 
louse, and a severe injunction, in virtue of holy obedience, 
to accept the same. However, he first made his religious 
profession among the Friar Minors on Christmas eve, 1296, 
and received the episcopal consecration in the beginning of 
the February following. He travelled to his bishopric as 
a poor religious, but was received at Toulouse with the 
veneration due to a Saint and the magnificence that be- 
came a prince. His modesty, mildness, and devotion in- 
spired a love of piety in all who beheld him. It was his 
first care to provide for the relief of the indigent, and his 
first visits were made to the hospitals and the poor. In 
his apostolical labors, he abated nothing of his austerities, 
said Mass every day, and preached frequently. Being 
obliged to go into Provence for certain very urgent eccle- 
siastical affairs, he fell sick at the castle of Brignoles. 
Finding his end draw near, he received the Viaticum on 
his knees, melting in tears, and in his last moments ceased 
not to repeat the Hail Mary. He died on the 19th of 
August, 1297, being only twenty-three years and six months 
old. 

August 20.— ST. BERNARD. 

ernard was born at the castle of Fontaines, in Bur- 
gundy. The grace of his person and the vigor of his 
intellect filled his parents with the highest hopes, and the 
world lay bright and smiling before him when he re- 
nounced it forever and. joined the monks at Citeaux. All 
his brothers followed Bernard to Citeaux except Mvard, 
the youngest, who was left to be the stay of his father in 
his old age. " You will now be heir of everything/' said 
they to him, as they departed. " Yes," said the boy; " you 
leave me earth, and keep heaven for yourselves; do you 




288 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [August 20 



call that fair?" And he too left the world. At length 
their aged father came to exchange wealth and honor for 
the poverty of a monk of Clairvaux. One only sister 
remained behind; she was married, and loved the world 
and its pleasures. Magnificently dressed, she visited Ber- 
nard; he refused to see her, and only at last consented 
to do so, not as her brother, but as the minister of Christ. 
The words he then spoke moved her so much that, two 
years later, she retired to a convent with her husband's 
consent, and died in the reputation of sanctity. Bernard's 
holy example attracted so many novices that other monas- 
teries were erected, and our Saint was appointed abbot of 
that of Clairvaux. Unsparing with himself, he at first 
expected too much of his brethren, who Were disheartened 
at his severity; but soon perceiving his error, he led them 
forward, by the sweetness of his correction and the mild- 
ness of his rule, to wonderful perfection. In spite of his 
desire to lie hid, the fame of his sanctity spread far and 
wide, and many churches asked for him as their Bishop. 
Through the help of Pope Bugenius III., his former sub- 
ject, he escaped this dignity; yet his retirement was con- 
tinually invaded: the poor and the weak sought his pro- 
tection; bishops, kings, and popes applied to him for 
advice; and at length Eugenius himself charged him to 
preach the crusade. By his fervor, eloquence, and mira- 
cles Bernard kindled the enthusiasm of Christendom, and 
two splendid armies were despatched against the infidel. 
Their defeat was only due, said the Saint, to their own 
sins. Bernard died in 1153. His most precious writ- 
ings have earned for him the titles of the last of the 
Fathers and a Doctor of Holy Church. 

Reflection. — St. Bernard used to say to those who ap- 
plied for admission to the monastery, " If you desire to 
enter here, leave at the threshold the body you have brought 
with you from the world; here there is room only for your 
soul." Let us constantly ask ourselves St. Bernard's daily 
question, " To what end didst thou come hither ? " 



August 21] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



289 



August 21. — ST. JANE FRANCES DE CHANTAL. 

Bt the age of sixteen, Jane Frances de Fremyot, already 
a motherless child, was placed under the care of a 
worldly-minded governess. In this crisis she offered her- 
self to the Mother of God, and secured Mary's protection 
for life. When a Protestant sought her hand, she steadily 
refused to marry " an enemy of God and His Church," and 
shortly afterwards, as the loving and beloved wife of the 
Baron de Chantal, made her house the pattern of a Chris- 
tian home. But God had marked her for something higher 
than domestic sanctity. Two children and a dearly be- 
loved sister died, and, in the full tide of prosperity, her 
husband's life was taken by the innocent hand of a friend. 
Tor seven years the sorrows of her widowhood were in- 
creased by ill-usage from servants and inferiors, and the 
cruel importunities of friends, who urged her to marry 
again. Harassed almost to despair by their entreaties, she 
branded on her heart the name of Jesus, and in the end 
left her beloved home and children to live for God alone. 
It was on the 19th of March, 1609, that Madame de Chan- 
tal bade farewell to her family and relations. Pale, and 
with tears in her eyes, she passed round the large room, 
sweetly and humbly taking leave of each. Her son, a boy 
of fifteen, used every entreaty, every endearment, to in- 
duce his mother not to leave them, and at last passionately 
flung himself across the door of the room. In an agony of 
distress, she passed on over the body of her son to the 
embrace of her aged and disconsolate father. The anguish 
of that parting reached its height when, kneeling at the 
feet of the venerable old man, she sought and obtained his 
last blessing, promising to repay in her new home his sac- 
rifice by her prayers. Well might St. Francis call her 
" the valiant woman." She was to found with St. Francis 
de Sales a great Order. Sickness, opposition, want, beset 
her, and the death of children, friends, and of St. Francis 
himself followed, while eighty-seven houses of the Visita- 
tion rose under her hand. Nine long years of interior 
desolation completed the work of God's grace ; and in her 
seventieth year St. Vincent of Paul saw, at the mo- 



290 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [August 22 



ment of her death, her soul ascend, as a ball of fire, to 
heaven. 

Reflection. — Profit by the successive trials of life to gain 
the strength and courage of St. Jane Frances, and they 
will become stepping-stones from earth to heaven. 

August 22. — ST. SYMPHORIAN, Martyr. 

gBOUT the year 180 there was a great procession of 
the heathen goddess Ceres, at Autun, in France. 
Amongst the crowd was one who refused to pay the ordi- 
nary marks of worship. He was therefore dragged before 
the magistrate and accused of sacrilege and sedition. 
When asked his name and condition, he replied, " My name 
is Symphorian; I am a Christian." He came of a noble 
and Christian family. He was still young, and so innocent 
that he was said to converse with the holy angels. The 
Christians of Autun were few and little known, and the 
judge could not believe that the youth was serious in his 
purpose. He caused the laws enforcing heathen worship 
to be read, and looked for a speedy compliance. Sym- 
phorian replied that he must obey the laws of the King of 
kings. " Give me a hammer," he said, " and I will break 
your idol in pieces." He was scourged and thrown into a 
dungeon. Some days later this son of light came forth 
from the darkness of his prison, haggard and worn, but full 
of joy. He despised the riches and honors offered to him 
as he had despised torments. He died by the sword, and 
went to the court of the heavenly King. The mother of 
St. Symphorian stood on the city walls and saw her son 
led out to die. She knew the honors he had refused and 
the dishonor of his death, but she esteemed the reproach 
of Christ better than all the riches of Egypt, and she 
cried out to him, " My son, my son, keep the living God in 
your heart ; look up to Him Who reigns in heaven." Thus 
she shared in the glory of his passion, and her name lives 
with his in the records of the Church. Little more than a 
century later the Eoman Empire bowed before the faith of 
Christ. Many miracles spread the glory of St. Sympho- 
rian, and of Christ the King of Saints. 



August 23] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



291 



Reflection. — The Catholic religion teaches us to be sub- 
ject to every rightful authority. But no earthly authority 
has any right against Christ and His Church. If we are 
accused of sedition or disobedience because we are faithful 
to our religion, then we must choose as St. Symphorian 
chose, and obey God rather than man. 



August 23.— ST. PHILIP BENIZI. 

t. Philip Bekczi was born in Florence, on the Feast 
of the Assumption, 1233. That same day the Order 
of Servites was founded by the Mother of God. As an 
infant at the breast, Philip broke out into speech at the 
sight of these new religious, and begged his mother to 
give them alms. Amidst all the temptations of his youth, 
he longed to become himself a servant of Mary, and it was 
only the fear of his own unworthiness which made him 
yield to his father's wish and begin to practise medicine. 
After long and weary waiting, his doubts were solved by 
Our Lady herself, who in a vision bade him enter her 
Order. Still Philip dared only offer himself as a lay 
brother, and in this humble state he strove to do penance 
for his sins. In spite of his reluctance, he was promoted 
to the post of master of novices; and as his rare abilities 
were daily discovered, he was bidden to prepare for the 
priesthood. Thenceforth honors were heaped upon him; 
he became general of the Order, and only escaped by flight 
elevation to the Papal throne. His preaching restored 
peace to Italy, which was wasted by civil wars ; and at the 
Council of Lyons, he spoke to the assembled prelates with 
the gift of tongues. Amid all these favors Philip lived in 
extreme penitence, constantly examining his soul before 
the judgment-seat of God, and condemning himself as only 
fit for hell. St. Philip, though he was free from the stain 
of mortal sin, was never weary of beseeching God's mercy. 
From the time he was ten years old he said daily the 
Penitential Psalms. On his death-bed he kept reciting the 
verses of the Miserere, with his cheeks streaming with 
tears; and during his agony he went through a terrible 
contest to overcome the fear of damnation. But a few 




292 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [August 24 



minutes before he died, all his doubts disappeared and 
were succeeded by a holy trust. He uttered the responses 
in a low but audible voice ; and when at last the Mother 
of God appeared before him, he lifted up his arms with 
joy and breathed a gentle sigh, as if placing his soul in her 
hand. He died on the Octave of the Assumption, 1285. 

Reflection. — Endeavor so to act as you would wish to 
have acted when you stand before your Judge. This is 
the rule of the Saints, and the only safe rule for all. 

August 24. — ST. BARTHOLOMEW, Apostle. 

/SSt. Bartholomew was one of the twelve who were 
called to the apostolate by our blessed Lord Himself. 
Several learned interpreters of the Holy Scripture take this 
apostle to have been the same as Nathaniel, a native of 
Cana, in Galilee, a doctor in the Jewish law, and one of 
the seventy-two disciples of Christ, to whom he was con- 
ducted by St. Philip, and whose innocence and simplicity 
of heart deserved to be celebrated with the highest eulogium 
by the divine mouth of Our Redeemer. He is mentioned 
among the disciples who were met together in prayer after 
Christ's ascension, and he received the Holy Ghost with 
the rest. Being eminently qualified by the divine grace 
to discharge the functions of an apostle, he carried the 
Gospel through the most barbarous countries of the East, 
penetrating into the remoter Indies. He then returned 
again into the northwest part of Asia, and met St. Philip, 
at Hierapolis, in Phrygia. Hence he travelled into Lyca- 
onia, where he instructed the people in the Christian Faith ; 
but we know not even the names of many of the countries 
in which he preached. St. Bartholomew's last removal 
was into Great Armenia, where, preaching in a place 
obstinately addicted to the worship of idols, he was crowned 
with a glorious martyrdom. The modern Greek historians 
say that he was condemned by the governor of Albanopolis 
to be crucified. Others affirm that he was flayed alive, 
which might well enough consist with his crucifixion, this 
double punishment being in use not only in Egypt, but 
also among the Persians. 



August 25] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



293 



Reflection. — The characteristic virtue of the apostles 
was zeal for the divine glory, the first property of the love 
of God. A soldier is always ready to defend the honor of 
his prince, and a son that of his father ; and can a Christian 
say he loves God who is indifferent to His honor? 



August 25. — ST. LOUIS, King. 

he mother of Louis told him she would rather see him 
die than commit a mortal sin, and he never forgot 
her words. King of France at the age of twelve, he made 
the defence of God's honor the aim of his life. Before two 
years, he had crushed the Albigensian heretics, and forced 
them by stringent penalties to respect the Catholic faith. 
Amidst the cares of government, he daily recited the Divine 
Office and heard two Masses, and the most glorious churches 
in France are still monuments of his piety. When his 
courtiers remonstrated with Louis for his law that blas- 
phemers should be branded on the lips, he replied, "I 
would willingly have my own lips branded to root out 
blasphemy from my kingdom/' The fearless protector of 
the weak and the oppressed, he was chosen to arbitrate in 
all the great feuds of his age, between the Pope and the 
Emperor, between Henry III. and the English barons. In 
1248, to rescue the land which Christ had trod, he gath- 
ered round him the chivalry of France, and embarked for 
the East. There, before the infidel, in victory or defeat, 
on the bed of sickness or a captive in chains, Louis showed 
himself ever the same, — the first, the best, and the bravest 
of Christian knights. When a captive at Damietta, an 
Emir rushed into his tent brandishing a dagger red with 
the blood of the Sultan, and threatened to stab him also 
unless he would make him a knight, as the Emperor Fred- 
erick had Facardin. Louis calmly replied that no un- 
believer could perform the duties of a Christian knight. 
In the same captivity he was offered his liberty on terms 
lawful in themselves, but enforced b}^ an oath which implied 
a blasphemy, and though the infidels held their swords' 
points at his throat, and threatened a massacre of the 
Christians, Louis inflexibly refused. The death of his 




294 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [August 26 



mother recalled him to France; but when order was re- 
established he again set forth on a second crusade. In 
August, 12 70, his army landed at Tunis, and ? though vic- 
torious over the enemy, succumbed to a malignant fever. 
Louis was one of the victims. He received the Viaticum 
kneeling by his camp-bed, and gave up his life with the 
same joy that he had given all else for the honor of God. 

Reflection. — If we cannot imitate St. Louis in dying for 
the honor of God, we can at least resemble him in resent- 
ing the blasphemies offered against God by the infidel, the 
heretic, and the scoffer. 



August 26.— ST, ZEPHYRINUS, Pope and Martyr. 

@T. Zephyrinus, a native of Eome, succeeded Victor in 
the pontificate, in the year 202, in which Severus 
raised the fifth most bloody persecution against the Church, 
which continued not for two years only, but until the death 
of that emperor in 211. Under this furious storm this 
holy pastor was the support and comfort of the distressed 
flock of Christ, and he suffered by charity and compassion 
what every confessor underwent. The triumphs of the 
martyrs were indeed his joy, but his heart received many 
deep wounds from the fall of apostates and heretics. 
Neither did this latter affliction cease when peace was re- 
stored to the Church. Our Saint had also the affliction to 
see the fall of Tertullian, which seems to have been owing 
partly to his pride. Eusebius tells us that this holy Pope 
exerted his zeal so strenuously against the blasphemies of 
the heretics that they treated him in the most contumelious 
manner; but it was his glory that they called him the 
principal defender of Christ's divinity. St. Zephyrinus 
filled the pontifical chair seventeen years, dying in 219. 
He was buried in his own cemetery, on the 26th of August. 
He is, in some Martyrologies, styled a martyr, which title 
he might deserve by what he suffered in the persecution, 
though he perhaps did not die by the executioner. 

Reflection. — God has always raised up holy pastors zeal- 
ous to maintain the faith of His Church inviolable, and to 



August 27] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



295 



wateh over the purity of its morals and the sanctity of its 
discipline. We enjoy the greatest advantages of the divine 
grace through their labors., and we owe to God a tribute 
of perpetual thanksgiving and immortal praise for all those 
mercies which He has afforded His Church on earth. 

August 27. — ST. JOSEPH CALASANCTIUS. 

t. Joseph Calasanctius was born in Arragon, in 
1556. When only five years old, he led a troop of 
children through the streets to find the devil and kill him. 
He became a priest, and was engaged in various reforms, 
when he heard a voice saying, " Go to Kome," and had a 
vision of many children who were being taught by him 
and by a company of angels. When he reached the Holy 
City, his heart was moved by the vice and ignorance of the 
children of the poor. Their need mastered his humility, 
and he founded the Order of Clerks Eegular of the Pious 
Schools. He himself provided all that was necessary for 
the education of the children, receiving nothing from them 
in paj'inent, and there were soon about a thousand scholars 
of every rank under his care. Each lesson began with 
prayer. Every half-hour devotion was renewed by acts 
of faith, hope, and charity, and towards the end of school- 
time the children were instructed in the Christian doctrine. 
They were then escorted home b}^ the masters, so as to 
escape all harm by the way. But enemies arose against 
Joseph from among his own subjects. They accused him 
to the Holy Office, and at the age of eighty-six he was led 
through the streets to prison. At last the Order was re- 
duced to a simple congregation. It was not restored to its 
former privileges till after the Saint's death. Yet he died 
full of hope. "My work/' he said, "was done solely for 
the love of God/' 

Reflection. — " My children/' said the Cure of Ars, * I 
often think that most of the Christians who are lost are 
lost for want of instruction; they do not know their re- 
ligion well." 

v 




296 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [August 29 



August 28.— ST. AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO. 

@t. Augustine was born in 354, at Tagaste in Africa. 
He was brought up in the Christian f aith, but with- 
out receiving baptism. An ambitious school-boy of bril- 
liant talents and violent passions, he early lost both his 
faith and his innocence. He persisted in his irregular life 
until he was thirty-two. Being then at Milan professing 
rhetoric, he tells us that the faith of his childhood had 
regained possession of his intellect, but that he could not 
as yet resolve to break the chains of evil habit. One day, 
however, stung to the heart by the account of some sudden 
conversions, he cried out, " The unlearned rise and storm 
heaven, and we, with all our learning, for lack of heart 
lie wallowing here." He then withdrew into a garden, 
when a long and terrible conflict ensued. Suddenly a 
young fresh voice (he knows not whose) breaks in upon his 
strife with the words, " Take and read ; 99 and he lights 
upon the passage beginning, "Walk honestly as in the 
day." The battle was won. He received baptism, re- 
turned home, and gave all to the poor. At Hippo, where 
he settled, he was consecrated bishop in 395. For thirty- 
five years he was the centre of ecclesiastical life in Africa, 
and the Church's mightiest champion against heresy ; whilst 
his writings have been everywhere accepted as one of the 
principal sources of devotional thought and theological 
speculation. He died in 430. 

Reflection. — Read the lives of the Saints, and you will 
find that you are gradually creating a society about you to 
which in some measure you will be forced to raise the 
standard of your daily life. 

August 29.— THE BEHEADING OF ST. JOHN 
THE BAPTIST. 

t. John the Baptist was called by God to Be the 
forerunner of His divine Son. In order to preserve 
his innocence spotless, and to improve the extraordinary 
graces which he had received, he was directed by the Holy 
Ghost to lead an austere and contemplative life in the 




August 29] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



297 



wilderness, in the continual exercises of devout prayer and 
penance, from his infancy till he was thirty years of age. 
At this age the faithful minister began to discharge his 
mission. Clothed with the weeds of penance^ he an- 
nounced to all men the obligation they lay under of 
washing away their iniquities with the tears of sincere 
compunction; and proclaimed the Messias, Who was then 
coming to make His appearance among them. He was re- 
ceived by the people as the true herald of the Most High 
God, and his voice was, as it were, a trumpet sounding 
from heaven to summon all men to avert the divine judg- 
ments, and to prepare themselves to reap the benefit of 
the mercy that was offered them. The tetrarch Herod 
Antipas having, in defiance of all laws divine and human, 
married Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, who was 
yet living, St. John the Baptist boldly reprehended the 
tetrarch and his accomplice for so scandalous an incest 
and adultery, and Herod, urged on by lust and anger, cast 
the Saint into prison. About a year after St. John had 
been made a prisoner, Herod gave a splendid entertain- 
ment to the nobility of Galilee. Salome, a daughter of 
Herodias by her lawful husband, pleased Herod by her 
dancing, insomuch that he promised her to grant whatever 
she asked. On this, Salome consulted with her mother 
what to ask. Herodias instructed her daughter to demand 
the death of John the Baptist, and persuaded the young 
damsel to make it part of her petition that the head of the 
prisoner should be forthwith brought to her in a dish. 
This strange request startled the tyrant himself; he as- 
sented, however, and sent a soldier of his guard to behead 
the Saint in prison, with an order to bring his head in a 
charger and present it to Salome, who delivered it to her 
mother. St. Jerome relates that the furious Herodias 
made it her inhuman pastime to prick the sacred tongue 
with a bodkin. Thus died the great forerunner of our 
blessed Saviour, about two years and three months after 
his entrance upon his public ministry, about a year before 
the death of our blessed Eedeemer. 

Reflection. — All the high graces with which St. John 
was favored sprang from his humility ; in this all his other 



298 



LIVES OF TEE 8AINT8 [August 30 



virtues were founded. If we desire to form ourselves upon 
so great a model, we must, above all things, labor to lay 
the same deep foundation. 

August 30.— ST. ROSE OF LIMA. 

his lovely flower of sanctity, the first canonized Saint 
of the New World, was born at Lima in 1586. She 
was christened Isabel, but the beauty of her infant face 
earned for her the title of Eose, which she ever after bore. 
As a child, while still in the cradle, her silence under a 
painful surgical operation proved the thirst for suffering 
already consuming her heart. At an early age she took 
service to support her impoverished parents, and worked 
for them day and night. In spite of hardships and aus- 
terities her beauty ripened with increasing age, and she 
was much and openly admired. From fear of vanity she 
cut off her hair, blistered her face with pepper and her 
hands with lime. For further security she enrolled her- 
self in the Third Order of St. Dominic, took St. Catherine 
of Siena as her model, and redoubled her penance. Her 
cell was a garden hut, her couch a box of broken tiles. 
Under her habit Eose wore a hair-shirt studded with iron 
nails, while, concealed by her veil, a silver crown armed 
with ninety points encircled her head. More than once, 
when she shuddered at the prospect of a night of torture, 
a voice said, "My cross was yet more painful." The 
Blessed Sacrament seemed almost her only food. Her love 
for it was intense. When the Dutch fleet prepared to 
attack the town, Eose took her place before the tabernacle, 
and wept that she was not worthy to die in its defence. 
All her sufferings were offered for the conversion of sin- 
ners, and the thought of the multitudes in hell was ever 
before her soul. She died in 1617, at the age of thirty- 
one. 

Reflection. — Eose, pure as driven snow, was filled with 
deepest contrition and humility, and did constant and 
terrible penance. Our sins are continual, our repentance 
passing, our contrition slight, our penance nothing. How 
will it fare with us? 




August 30] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



299 



ST. FIAKER, Anchorite. 

t. Fiaker was nobly born in Ireland, and had his 
education under the care of a bishop of eminent 
sanctity who was, according to some, Conan, Bishop of 
Soder or the Western Islands. Looking upon all worldly 
advantages as dross, he left his country and friends in the 
flower of his age, and with certain pious companions sailed 
over to France, in quest of some solitude in which he 
might devote himself to God, unknown to the rest of the 
world. Divine Providence conducted him to St. Faro, who 
was the Bishop of Meaux, and eminent for sanctity. When 
St. Fiaker addressed himself to him, the prelate, charmed 
with the marks of extraordinary virtue and abilities which 
he discovered in this stranger, gave him a solitary dwelling 
in a forest called Breuil which was his own patrimony, 
two leagues from Meaux. In this place the holy anchorite 
cleared the ground of trees and briers, made himself a cell, 
with a small garden, and built an oratory in honor of the 
Blessed Virgin, in which he spent a great part of the days 
and nights in devout praj^er. He tilled his garden and 
labored with his own hands for his subsistence. The life 
he led was most austere, and only necessity or charity ever 
interrupted his exercises of prayer and heavenly contem- 
plation. Many resorted to him for advice, and the poor 
for relief. But, following an inviolable rule among the 
Irish monks, he never suffered any woman to enter the 
enclosure of his hermitage. St. Chillen, or Kilian, an 
Irishman of high birth, on his return from Eome, visited 
St. Fiaker, who was his kinsman, and having passed some 
time under his discipline, was directed by his advice, with 
the authority of the bishops, to preach in that and the 
neighboring dioceses. This commission he executed with 
admirable sanctity and fruit. St. Fiaker died about the 
year 670, on the 30th of August. 

Reflection. — Ye who love indolence, ponder well these 
words of St. Paul : " If any man will not work, neither let 
him eat." 




300 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [August 31 



August 31.— ST. RAYMUND NONNATUS. 

t. Eaymund ISTonnatus was born in Catalonia, in the 
year 1204, and was descended of a gentleman's family 
of a small fortune. In his childhood he seemed to find 
pleasure only in his devotions and serious duties. His 
father, perceiving in him an inclination to a religious state, 
took him from school, and sent him to take care of a farm 
which he had in the country. Eaymund readily obeyed, 
and, in order to enjoy the opportunity of holy solitude, 
kept the sheep himself, and spent his time in the moun- 
tains and forests in holy meditation and prayer. Some 
time after, he joined the new Order of Our Lady of Mercy 
for the redemption of captives, and was admitted to his 
profession at Barcelona by the holy founder, St. Peter 
Nolasco. Within two or three years after his profession, 
he was sent into Barbary with a considerable sum of money, 
where he purchased, at Algiers, the liberty of a great num- 
ber of slaves. When all this treasure was exhausted, he 
gave himself up as a hostage for the ransom of certain 
others. This magnanimous sacrifice served only to exas- 
perate the Mohammedans, who treated him with uncommon 
barbarity, till, fearing lest if he died in their hands they 
should lose the ransom which was to be paid for the slaves 
for whom he remained a hostage, they gave orders that he 
should be treated with more humanity. Hereupon he was 
permitted to go abroad about the streets, which liberty he 
made use of to comfort and encourage the Christians in 
their chains, and he converted and baptized some Moham- 
medans. For this the governor condemned him to be put 
to death by thrusting a stake into the body, but his punish- 
ment was commuted, and he underwent a cruel bastinado. 
This torment did not daunt his courage. So long as he saw 
souls in danger of perishing eternally, he thought he had yet 
done nothing. St. Eaymund had no more money to em- 
ploy in releasing poor captives, and to speak to a Moham- 
medan upon the subject of religion was death. He could, 
however, still exert his endeavors, with hopes of some suc- 
cess, or of dying a martyr of charity. He therefore re- 
sumed his former method of instructing and exhorting 




September 1] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



301 



both the Christians and the infidels. The governor, who 
was enraged, ordered our Saint to be barbarously tortured 
and imprisoned till his ransom was brought by some re- 
ligious men of his Order, who were sent with it by St. 
Peter. Upon his return to Spain, he was nominated car- 
dinal by Pope Gregory IX., and the Pope, being desirous 
to have so holy a man about his person, called him to 
Pome. The Saint obeyed, but went no further than Car- 
dona, when he was seized with a violent fever, which 
proved mortal. He died on the 31st of August, in the 
year 1240, the thirty-seventh of his age. 

Reflection. — This Saint gave not only his substance 
but his liberty, and even exposed himself to the most cruel 
torments and death, for the redemption of captives and the 
salvation of souls. But alas ! do not we, merely to gratify 
our prodigality, vanity, or avarice, refuse to give the super- 
fluous part of our possessions to the poor, who for want of 
it are perishing with cold and hunger ? Let us remember 
that " He that giveth to the poor shall not want." 

September i.— ST. GILES, Abbot. 

t. Giles, whose name has been held in great venera- 
tion for several ages in France and England, is said 
to have been an Athenian by birth, and of noble extrac- 
tion. His extraordinary piety and learning drew the ad- 
miration of the world upon him in such a manner that it 
was impossible for him to enjoy in his own country that 
obscurity and retirement which was the chief object of his 
desires on earth. He therefore sailed to France, and chose 
a hermitage first in the open deserts near the mouth of 
the Ehone, afterward near the river Gard, and lastly in a 
forest in the diocese of Msmes. He passed many years in 
this close solitude, living on wild herbs or roots and water, 
and conversing only with God. We read in his life that he 
was for some time nourished with the milk of a hind in the 
forest, which, being pursued by hunters, fled for refuge to 
the Saint, who was thus discovered. The reputation of the 
sanctity of this holy hermit was much increased by many 
miracles which he wrought, and which rendered his name 




302 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [September 2 



famous throughout all France. St. Giles was highly es- 
teemed by the French king, but could not be prevailed upon 
to forsake his solitude. He, however, admitted several 
disciples, and settled excellent discipline in the monastery 
of which he was the founder, and which, in succeeding 
ages, became a flourishing abbey of the Benedictine Order. 

Reflection.— He who accompanies the exercises of con- 
templation and arduous penance with zealous and un- 
daunted endeavors to conduct others to the same glorious 
term with himself, shall be truly great in the kingdom of 
heaven. 

September 2.— ST. STEPHEN, King. 

eEYSA, fourth Duke of Hungary, was, with his wife, 
converted to the Faith, and saw in a vision the mar- 
tyr St. Stephen, who told him that he should have a son 
who would perfect the work he had begun. This son was 
born in 977, and received the name of Stephen. He was 
most carefully educated, and succeeded his father at an 
early age. He began to root out idolatry, suppressed a 
rebellion of his pagan subjects, and founded monasteries 
and churches all over the land. He sent to Pope Sylvester, 
begging him to appoint bishops to the eleven sees he had 
endowed, and to bestow on him, for the greater success of 
his work, the title of king. The Pope granted his requests, 
and sent him a cross to be borne before him, saying that 
he regarded him as the true apostle of his people. His de- 
votion was fervent. He placed his realms under the pro- 
tection of our blessed Lady, and kept the feast of her 
Assumption with peculiar affection. He gave good laws, 
and saw to their execution. Throughout his life, we are 
told, he had Christ on his lips, Christ in his heart, and 
Christ in all he did. His only wars were wars of defence, 
and he was always successful. God sent him many and 
sore trials. One by one his children died, but he bore all 
with perfect submission to the will of God. When St. 
Stephen was about to die, he summoned the bishops and 
nobles, and gave them charge concerning the choice of a 
successor. Then he urged them to nurture and cherish the 



September 3] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



303 



Catholic Churchy which was still as a tender plant in Hun- 
gary, to follow justice, humility, and charity, to be obe- 
dient to the laws, and to show ever a reverent submission 
to the Holy See. Then, raising his eyes towards heaven, 
he said, " 0 Queen of Heaven, august restorer of a pros- 
trate world, to thy care I commend the Holy Church, my 
people, and my realm, and my own departing soul." And 
then, on his favorite feast of the Assumption, in 1038, he 
died in peace. 

Reflection. — " Our duty," says Father Newman, " is to 
follow the Vicar of Christ whither he goeth, and never to 
desert him, however we may be tried; but to defend him 
at all hazards and against all comers, as a son would a 
father, and. as a wife a husband, knowing that his cause is 
the cause of God." 



September 3. — ST. SERAPHIA, Virgin and Martyr. 

/32(t. Seraphia w T as born at Antioch, of Christian parents, 
Jk-/ who, flying from the persecutions of Adrian, went to 
Italy and settled there. Her parents dying, .Seraphia was 
sought in marriage by many, but having resolved to conse- 
crate herself to God alone, she sold all her possessions and 
distributed the proceeds to the poor; finally she sold her- 
self into a voluntary slavery, and entered the services of a 
Roman lady named Sabina. The piety of Seraphia, her 
love of work, and her charity soon gained the heart of her 
mistress, who was not long in becoming a Christian. Hav- 
ing been denounced as a follower of Christ, Seraphia was 
condemned to death. She was at first placed on a burning 
pile, but remained uninjured by the flames. Almost de- 
spairing of being able to inflict death upon her, the prefect 
Berillus ordered her to be beheaded, and she thus received 
the crown which she so richly merited. Her mistress gath- 
ered her remains, and interred them with every mark of 
respect. Sabina, meeting with a martyr's death, a year 
after, was laid, in the same tomb with her faithful servant. 
As early as the fifth century there was a church at Eome 
placed under their invocation. 



304 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [September 4 



Reflection. — Christian courage bears relation to our 
faith. " If we continue in the faith, grounded, and settled, 
and immovable," all things will be found possible to us. 



September 4.— ST. ROSALIA, Virgin. 

t. Eosalia was daughter of a noble family descended 
from Charlemagne. She was born at Palermo in 
Sicily, and despising in her youth worldly vanities, made 
herself an abode in a cave on Mount Pelegrino, three miles 
from Palermo, where she completed the sacrifice of her 
heart to God by austere penance and manual labor, sancti- 
fied by assiduous prayer and the constant union of her soul 
with God. She died in 1160. Her body was found buried 
in a grot under the mountain, in the year of the jubilee, 
1625, under Pope Urban VIII., and was translated into the 
metropolitan church of Palermo, of which she was chosen 
a patroness. To her patronage that island ascribes the 
ceasing of a grievous pestilence at the same time. 

St. Eose of Viterbo, who is honored on this same day, 
was born in the spring of 1240, a time when Frederick II, 
was oppressing the Church and many were faithless to the 
Holy See. The infant at once seemed filled with grace; 
with tottering steps she sought J esus in His tabernacle, she 
knelt before sacred images, she listened to pious talk, re- 
taining all she heard, and this when she was scarcely three 
years old. One coarse habit covered her flesh; fasts and 
disciplines were her delight. To defend the Church's rights 
was her burning wish, and for this she received her mission 
from the Mother of God, who gave her the Franciscan habit, 
with the command to go forth and preach. When hardly 
ten years old, Rose went down to the public square at 
Viterbo, called upon the inhabitants to be faithful to the 
Sovereign Pontiff, and vehemently denounced all his oppo- 
nents. So great was the power of her word, and of the 
miracles which accompanied it, that the Imperial party, in 
fear and anger, drove her from the city, but she continued 
to preach till Innocent IV. was brought back in triumph 
to Eome and the cause of God was won* Then she retired 
to a little cell at Viterbo, and prepared in solitude for her 




Septembeb 5] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



305 



end. She died in her eighteenth year. Not long afte*, 
she appeared in glory to Alexander IV., and bade him 
translate her body. He found it as the vision had said, 
but fragrant and beautiful, as if still in life. 

Reflection. — Eose lived but seventeen years, saved the 
Church's cause, and died a Saint. We have lived, perhaps, 
much longer, and yet with what result? Every minute 
something can be done for God. Let us be up and doing. 

September 5. — ST. LAURENCE JUSTINIAN. 

Haurence from a child longed to be a Saint ; and when 
he was nineteen years of age there was granted to 
him a vision of the Eternal Wisdom. All earthly things 
paled in his eyes before the ineffable beauty of this sight, 
and as it faded away a void was left in his heart which 
none but God could fill. Eefusing the offer of a brilliant 
marriage, he fled secretly from his home at Venice, and 
joined the Canons Eegular of St. George. One by one he 
crushed every natural instinct which could bar his union 
with his Love. When Laurence first entered religion, a 
nobleman went to dissuade him from the folly of thus 
sacrificing every earthly prospect. The young monk lis- 
tened patiently in turn to his friend's affectionate appeal, 
scorn, and violent abuse. Calmly and kindly he then re- 
plied. He pointed out the shortness of life, the uncertainty 
of earthly happiness, and the incomparable superiority of 
the prize he sought to any his friend had named. The 
nobleman could make no answer; he felt in truth that 
Laurence was wise, himself the fool. He left the world, 
became a fellow-novice with the Saint, and his holy death 
bore every mark that he too had secured the treasures 
which never fail. As superior and as general, Laurence 
enlarged and strengthened his Order, and as bishop of his 
diocese, in spite of slander and insult, thoroughly reformed 
his see. His zeal led to his being appointed the first patri- 
arch of Venice, but he remained ever in heart and soul an 
humble priest, thirsting for the sight of heaven. At length 
the eternal vision began to dawn. " Are you laying a bed 
of feathers for me?" he said. "Not so; my Lord was 



306 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [September 6 



stretched on a hard and painful tree." Laid upon the 
straw, he exclaimed in rapture, "Good Jesus, behold I 
come." He died in 1435, aged seventy-four. 

Reflection. — Ask St. Laurence to vouchsafe you such a 
sense of the sufficiency of God that you too may fly to Him 
and be at rest. 

September 6.— ST. ELEUTHERIUS, Abbot. 

wonderful simplicity and spirit of compunction were 
the distinguishing virtues of this holy man, He was 
chosen abbot of St. Mark's near Spoleto, and favored by 
God with the gift of miracles. A child who was possessed 
by the devil, being delivered by being educated in his mon- 
astery, the abbot said one day : (C Since the child is among 
the servants of God, the devil dares not approach him." 
These words seemed to savor of vanity, and thereupon the 
devil again entered and tormented the child. The abbot 
humbly confessed his fault, and fasted and prayed with his 
whole community till the child was again freed from the 
tyranny of the fiend. St. Gregory the Great not being able 
to fast on Easter-eve on account of extreme weakness, en- 
gaged this Saint to go with him to the church of St, An- 
drew's and put up his prayers to God for his health, that 
he might join the faithful in that solemn practice of pen- 
ance. Eleutherius prayed with many tears, and the Pope, 
coming out of the church, found his breast suddenly 
strengthened, so that he was enabled to perform the fast 
as he desired. St. Eleutherius raised a dead man to life. 
Eesigning his abbacy, he died in St. Andrew's monastery 
in Eome, about the year 585. 

Reflection. — " Appear not to men to fast, but to thy 
Father Who is in heaven, and thy Father, Who seeth in 
secret, He will repay thee." 




September 7] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



307 



September 7.— ST. CLOUD, Confessor. 

t. Cloud is the first and most illustrious Saint among 
the princes of the royal family of the first race in 
France. He was son of Chlodomir, King of Orleans, the 
eldest son of St. Clotilda, and was born in 522. He was 
scarce three years old when his father was killed in Bur- 
gundy ; but his grandmother Clotilda brought up him and 
his two brothers at Paris, and loved them extremely. Their 
ambitious uncles divided the kingdom of Orleans between 
them, and stabbed with their own hands two of their 
nephews. Cloud, by a special providence, was saved from 
the massacre, and, renouncing the world, devoted himself 
to the service of God in a monastic state. After a 
time he put himself under the discipline of St. Severinus, 
a holy recluse who lived near Paris, from whose hands he 
received the monastic habit. Wishing to live unknown to 
the world, he withdrew secretly into Provence, but his 
hermitage being made public, he returned to Paris, and 
was received with the greatest joy imaginable. At the 
earnest request of the people, he was ordained priest by 
Eusebius, Bishop of Paris, in 551, and served that Church 
some time in the functions of the sacred ministry. He 
afterward retired to St. Cloud, two leagues below Paris, 
where he built a monastery. Here he assembled many 
pious men, who fled out of the world for fear of losing 
their souls in it. St. Cloud was regarded by them as their 
superior, and he animated them to all virtue both by word 
and example. He was indefatigable in instructing and ex- 
horting the people of the neighboring country, and piously 
ended his days about the year 560. 

Reflection. — Let us remember that " the just shall live 
for evermore ; they shall receive a kingdom of glory, and a 
crown of beauty at the hand of the Lord." 




308 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [September 8 



September 8.— THE NATIVITY OF THE 
BLESSED VIRGIN. 

he birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary announced joy 
and the near approach of salvation to the lost world. 
Mary was brought forth in the world not like other chil- 
dren of Adam, infected with the loathsome contagion of 
sin, but pure, holy, beautiful, and glorious, adorned with 
all the most precious graces which became her who was 
chosen to be the Mother of God. She appeared indeed 
in the weak state of our mortality; but in the eyes of 
Heaven she already transcended the highest seraph in 
purity, brightness, and the richest ornaments of grace. If 
we celebrate the birthdays of the great ones of this earth, 
how ought we to rejoice in that of the Virgin Mary, pre- 
senting to God the best homage of our praises and thanks- 
giving for the great mercies He has shown in her, and im- 
ploring her mediation with her Son in our behalf ! Christ 
will not reject the supplications of His mother, whom He 
was pleased to obey whilst on earth. Her love, care, and 
tenderness for Him, the title and qualities which she bears, 
the charity and graces with which she is adorned, and the 
crown of glory with which she is honored, must incline Him 
readily to receive her recommendations and petitions. 

THE FESTIVAL, ON THE SUNDAY WITHIN 
THE OCTAVE OF HER NATIVITY, OF THE 
HOLY NAME OF MARY. 

his festival was appointed by Pope Innocent XI., that 
on it the faithful may be called upon in a particular 
manner to recommend to God, through the intercession of 
the Blessed Virgin, the necessities of His Church, and to 
return Him thanks for His gracious protection and number- 
less mercies. What gave occasion to the institution of this 
feast was a solemn thanksgiving for the relief of Vienna 
when it was besieged by the Turks in 1683. If we desire 
to deprecate the divine anger, justly provoked by our sins, 
with our prayers, we must join the tears of sincere com- 





September 9] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



309 



puliation with a perfect conversion of our manners. The 
first grace we should always beg of God is that He will 
bring us to the disposition of condign penance. Our sup- 
plications for the divine mercies, and our thanksgivings for 
benefits received, will only thus be rendered acceptable. 
By no other means can we deserve the blessing of God, or 
be recommended to it by the patronage of His holy mother. 
To the invocation of Jesus it is a pious and wholesome 
practice to join our application to the Blessed Virgin, that, 
through her intercession, we may more easily and more 
abundantly obtain the effects of our petitions. In this 
sense devout souls pronounce, with great affection and con- 
fidence, the holy names of Jesus and Mary. 



September 9.— ST. OMER, Bishop. 

T. Omer was born toward the close of the sixth cen- 
tury, in the territory of Constance. His parents, who 
were noble and wealthy, gave great attention to his edu- 
cation, but, above all, stroye to inspire him with a love for 
virtue. Upon the death of his mother he entered the 
monastery of Luxen, whither he persuaded his father to 
I follow him, after having sold his worldly goods and dis- 
j tributed the proceeds among the poor. The father and son 
made their religious profession together. The humility, 
obedience, mildness, and devotion, together with the ad- 
j, mirable purity of manners, which shone forth in every 
action of St. Omer, distinguished him among his saintly 
brethren, and he was soon called from his solitude to take 
charge of the government of the Church in Terouenne. 
I The greater part of those living in his diocese were still 
1 pagans, and even the few Christians were, through a scar- 
i city of priests, fallen into a sad corruption of manners, 
j The great and difficult work of their conversion was re- 
j served for St. Omer. The holy bishop applied himself to 
his task with such zeal that in a short time his diocese be- 
i came one of the most flourishing in Prance. In his old 
age St. Omer became blind, but that affliction did not 
j lessen his pastoral concern for his flock. He died in the 
odor of sanctity, while on a pastoral visit to Wavre, in 670. 




310 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [September 10 



BLESSED PETER CLAVER. 

Qeter CixAYER was a Spanish Jesuit. In Majorca he 
fell in with the holy lay-brother Alphonsus Kodriguez, 
who, having already learned by revelation the saintly career 
of Peter, became his spiritual guide, foretold to him the 
labors he would undergo in the Indies, and the throne he 
would gain in heaven. Ordained priest in New Oranada, 
Peter was sent to Cartagena, the great slave-mart of the 
West Indies, and there he consecrated himself by vow to 
the salvation of those ignorant and miserable creatures. 
For more than forty years he labored in this work. He 
called himself "the slave of the slaves/' He was their 
apostle, father, physician, and friend. He fed them, 
nursed them with the utmost tenderness in their loathsome 
diseases, often applying his own lips to their hideous sores. 
His cloak, which was the constant covering of the naked, 
though soiled with their filthy ulcers, sent forth a miracu- 
lous perfume. His rest after his great labors was in nights 
of penance and prayer. However tired he might be, when 
news arrived of a fresh slave-ship, Blessed Peter immedi- 
ately revived, his eyes brightened, and he was at once on 
board amongst his dear slaves, bringing them comfort for 
body and soul. A false charge of reiterating Baptism for 
a while stopped his work. He submitted without a murmur 
till the calumny was refuted, and then God so blessed his 
toil that 40,000 negroes were baptized before he went to 
his reward, in 1654. 

Reflection. — When you see any one standing in need of 
your assistance, either for body or soul, do not ask yoursel 
why some one else did not help him, but think to yoursel 
that you have found a treasure. 

September io.— ST. NICHOLAS OF TOLEN 
TINO. 

ork in answer to the prayer of a holy mother, and 
vowed before his birth to the service of God, jSTicho 
las never lost his baptismal innocence. His austerities were 
conspicuous even in the austere Order — the Hermits o 




September 11] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



311 



St. Augustine — ■ to which he belonged, and to the remon- 
strances which were made by his superiors he only replied, 
" How can I be said to fast, while every morning at the 
altar I receive my God ? " He conceived an ardent charity 
for the Holy Souls, so near and yet so far from their 
Saviour; and often after his Mass it was revealed to him 
that the souls for whom he had offered the Holy Sacrifice 
had been admitted to the presence of God, Amidst his 
loving labors for God and man, he was haunted by fear of 
his own sinfulness. " The heavens," said he, " are not 
pure in the sight of Him Whoni I serve ; how then shall I, 
a sinful man, stand before Him?" As he pondered on 
these things, Mary, the Queen of all Saints, appeared be- 
fore him. €C Pear not, Nicholas," she said, " all is well 
with you : my Son bears you in His Heart, and I am your 
protection." Then his soul was at rest ; and he heard, we 
are told, the songs which the angels sing in the presence of 
their Lord. He died .September 10, 1310. 

Reflection. — Would you die the -death of the just? there 
is only one way to secure the fulfilment of your wish. Live 
the life of the just. For it is impossible that one who has 
been faithful to God in life should make a bad or an un- 
happy end. 

September n.— ST. PAPHNUTIUS, Bishop. 

he holy confessor Paphnutius was an Egyptian, and 
after having spent several years in the desert, under 
the direction of the great St. Antony, was made bishop in 
Upper Thebais. He was one of those confessors who, under 
the tyrant Maximin Daia, lost their right eye, and were 
afterward sent to work in the mines. Peace being restored 
to the Church, Paphnutius returned to his flock, The 
Arian heresy being broached in Egypt, he was one of the 
most zealous in defending the Catholic faith, and for his 
eminent sanctity and the glorious title of confessor (or one 
who had confessed the Faith before the persecutors and 
under torments) was highly considered in the great Council 
of Nice. Constantine the Great, during the celebration of 
that synod, sometimes conferred privately with him in his 




312 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [September 12 



palace, and never dismissed him without kissing respect- 
fully the place which had once held the eye he had lost for 
the Faith. St. Paphnutius remained always in a close 
union with St. Athanasius, and accompanied him to the 
Council of Tyre, in 335, where they found much the greater 
part of that assembly to be professed Arians. Seeing 
Maximus, Bishop of Jerusalem, among them, Paphnutius 
took him by the hand, led him out, and told him he could 
not see that any who bore the same marks as he in defence 
of the Faith should be seduced and imposed upon by per- 
sons who were resolved to oppress the most strenuous as- 
sertor of its fundamental article. We have no particular 
account of the death of St. Paphnutius, but his name stands 
in the Roman Martyrology on the 11th of September. 

Reflection. — If to fight for our country be glorious, " it 
is likewise great glory to follow the Lord," saith the Wise 
Man. 

September 12.— ST. GUY OF ANDERLECHT. 

s a child Guy had two loves, the Church and the poor. 
The love of prayer growing more and more, he left 
his poor home at Brussels to seek greater poverty and closer 
union with God. He arrived at Laeken, near Brussels, and 
there showed such devotion before Our Lady's shrine that 
the priest besought him to stay and serve the Church. 
Thenceforth his great joy was to be always in the church, 
sweeping the floor and ceiling, polishing the altars, and 
cleansing the sacred vessels. By day he still found time 
and means to befriend the poor, so that his almsgiving be- 
came famous in all those parts. A merchant of Brussels, 
hearing of the generosity of this poor sacristan, came to 
Laeken, and offered him a share in his business. Guy 
could not bear to leave the church; but the offer seemed 
providential, and he at last closed with it. Their ship, 
however, was lost on the first voyage, and on returning to 
Laeken Guy found his place filled. The rest of his life 
was one long penance for his inconstancy. About the 
year 1033, finding his end at hand, he returned to Ander- 




September 13] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



313 



lecht, in his own country. As he died, a light shone round 
him, and a voice was heard proclaiming his eternal reward. 

Reflection. — Jesus was only nii^e months in the womb of 
Mary, three hours on the cross, three days in the sepul- 
chre, but He is always in the tabernacle. Does our rever- 
ence before Him bear witness to this most blessed truth ? 

September 13.— ST. EULOGIUS, Patriarch of 
Alexandria. 

t. Eulogitts was a .Syrian by birth, and while young 
embraced the monastic state in that country. The 
Eutychian heresy had thrown the Churches of Syria and 
Egypt into much confusion, and a great part of the monks 
of Syria were at that time become remarkable for their 
loose morals and errors against faith. Eulogius learned 
from the fall of others to stand more watchfully and firmly 
upon his guard, and was not less distinguished by the 
innocence and sanctity of his manners than by the purity 
of his doctrine. Having, by an enlarged pursuit of learn- 
ing, attained to a great variety of useful knowledge in the 
different branches of literature, he set himself to the study 
of divinity in the sacred sources of that science, which are 
the Holy Scriptures, the tradition of the Church as ex- 
plained in its councils, and the approved writings of its 
eminent pastors. In the great dangers and necessities of 
the Church he was drawn out of his solitude, and made 
priest of Antioch by the patriarch St. Anastasius. Upon 
the death of John, the Patriarch of Alexandria, St. Eulo- 
gius was raised to that patriarchal dignity toward the close 
of the year 583. About two years after his promotion our 
Saint was obliged to make a journey to Constantinople, in 
order to concert measures concerning certain affairs of his 
Church. He met at court St. Gregory the Great, and con- 
tracted with him a holy friendship, so that from that time 
they seemed to be one heart and one soul. Among the 
letters of St. Gregory we have several extant which he 
wrote to our Saint. St. Eulogius composed many excellent 
works against different heresies, and died in the year 606. 




314 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [September 14 



Reflection. — We admire the great actions and the glori- 
ous triumph of the Saints; yet it is not so much in these 
that their sanctity consisted, as in the constant, habitual 
heroic disposition of their souls. There is no one who does 
not sometimes do good actions; but he can never be called 
virtuous who does well only by humor, or by fits and 
starts, not by steady habits. 

September 14.— THE EXALTATION OF THE 
HOLY CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. 

Gonstantine was still wavering between Christianity 
and idolatry when a luminous cross appeared to him 
in the heavens, bearing the inscription, " In this sign shalt 
thou conquer." He became a Christian, and triumphed 
over his enemies, who were at the same time the enemies 
of the Faith. A few years later, his saintly mother having 
found the cross on which Our Saviour suffered, the feast of 
the " Exaltation " was established in the Church ; but it 
was only at a later period still, namely, after the Emperor 
Heraclius had achieved three great and wondrous victories 
over Chosroes, King of Persia, who had possessed himself 
of the holy and precious relic, that this festival took a more 
general extension, and was invested with a higher character 
of solemnity. The feast of the " Finding " was thereupon 
instituted, in memory of the discovery made by St. Helena ; 
and that of the " Exaltation " was reserved to celebrate the 
triumphs of Heraclius. The greatest power of the Cath- 
olic world was at that time centred in the Empire of the 
East, and was verging toward its ruin, when God put forth 
His hand to save it : the re-establishment of the great cross 
at Jerusalem was the sure pledge thereof. This great 
event occurred in 629. 

Reflection. — Herein is found the accomplishment of the 
Saviour's word : " If I be lifted up from the earth, I will 
draw all things to Myself." 



September 16] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



315 



September 15. — ST. CATHERINE OF GENOA. 

Qoble in birth, rich, and exceedingly beautiful, Cath- 
erine had as a child rejected the solicitations of the 
world, and begged her divine Master for some share in His 
sufferings. At sixteen years of age she found herself 
promised in marriage to a young nobleman of dissolute 
habits, who treated her with such harshness that, after five 
years, wearied out by his cruelty, she somewhat relaxed 
the strictness of her life and entered into the worldly soci- 
ety of Genoa. At length, enlightened by divine grace as 
to the danger of her state, she resolutely broke with the 
world and gave herself up to a life of rigorous penance and 
prayer. The charity with which she devoted herself to the 
service of the hospitals, undertaking the vilest of offices 
with joy, induced her husband to amend his evil ways and 
he died penitent. Her heroic fortitude was sustained by 
the constant thought of the Holy Souls, whose sufferings 
were revealed to her, and whose state she has described in 
a treatise full of heavenly wisdom. A long and grievous 
malady during the last years of her life only served to per- 
fect her union with God, till, worn out in body and puri- 
fied in soul, she breathed her last on September 14, 1510. 

Reflection. — The constant thought of purgatory will 
help us not only to escape its dreadful pains, but also to 
avoid the least imperfection which hinders our approach to 
God. 



September 16.— ST. CYPRIAN, Bishop, Martyr. 

Cyprian" was an African of noble birth, but of evil life, 
a pagan, and a teacher of rhetoric. In middle life 
he was converted to Christianity, and shortly after his 
baptism was ordained priest, and made Bishop of Carthage, 
notwithstanding his resistance. When the persecution of 
Decius broke out, he fled from his episcopal city, that he 
might be the better able to minister to the wants of his 
flock, but returned on occasion of a pestilence. Later on 
he was banished, and saw in a vision his future martyr- 



316 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Septembeb 17 



dom. Being recalled from exile, sentence of death was 
pronounced against him, which he received with the words 
" Thanks be to God." His great desire was to die whilst 
in the act of preaching the faith of Christ, and he had the 
consolation of being surrounded at his martyrdom by 
crowds of his faithful children. He was beheaded on the 
14th of September, 258, and was buried with great solem- 
nity. Even the pagans respected his memory. 

Reflection.— The duty of almsgiving is declared both by 
nature and revelation: by nature, because it flows from 
the principle imprinted within us of doing to others as we 
would they should do to us ; by revelation, in many special 
commands of Scripture, and in the precept of divine char- 
ity which binds us to love God for His own sake, and our 
neighbor for the sake of God. 

September 17. — ST. LAMBERT, Bishop, Martyr. 

t. Lambert was a native of Maestricht. His father 
intrusted his education to the holy Bishop St. 
Theodard, and on that good man being assassinated, Lam- 
bert was chosen his successor. A revolution breaking out 
which overturned the kingdom of Austrasia, our Saint was 
banished from his see on account of his devotion to his 
sovereign. He retired to the monastery of Stavelo, and 
there obeyed the rule as strictly as the youngest novice 
could have done. One instance will suffice to show with 
how perfect a sacrifice of himself he devoted his heart to 
serve God. As he was rising one night in winter to his 
private devotions, he happened to let fall his wooden sandal 
or slipper. The abbot, without asking who had caused the 
noise, gave orders that the offender should go and pray be- 
fore the cross, which stood before the church door. Lam- 
bert, without making any answer, went out as he was, 
barefoot, and covered only with his hair shirt; and in this 
condition he prayed, kneeling before the cross, where he 
was found some hours after. At the sight of the holy 
bishop the abbot and the monks fell on the ground and 
asked his pardon. u God forgive you," said he, " for 
thinking you stand in need of pardon for this action. As 




September 18] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



317 



for myself, is it not in cold and nakedness that, according 
to St. Paul, I am to tame my flesh and to serve God ? 99 
While St. Lambert enjoyed the quiet of holy retirement, he 
wept to see the greatest part of the churches of France 
laid waste. In the mean time the political clouds began 
to break away, and Lambert was restored to his see, but 
his zeal in suppressing the many and notorious disorders 
which existed in his diocese led to his assassination on the 
17th of September, 709. 

Reflection. — How noble and heroic is this virtue of forti- 
tude ! how necessary for every Christian, especially for a 
pastor of souls, that neither worldly views nor fears may 
ever in the least warp his integrity or blind his judgment ! 

September 18. — ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA. 

t. Thomas, the glory of the Spanish Church in the six- 
teenth century, was born in 1488. A thirst for the 
science of the Saints led him to enter the house of the 
Austin Friars at Salamanca. Charles V. listened to him 
as an oracle, and appointed him Archbishop of Valencia. 
On being led to his throne in church, he pushed the silken 
cushions aside, and with tears kissed the ground. His first 
visit was to the prison; the sum with which the chapter 
presented him for his palace was devoted to the public 
hospital. As a child he had given his meal to the poor, 
and two thirds of his episcopal revenues were now annually 
spent in alms. He daily fed five hundred needy persons, 
brought up himself the orphans of the city, and sheltered 
the neglected foundlings with a mother's care. During his 
eleven years' episcopate not one poor maiden was married 
without an alms from the Saint. Spurred by his example, 
the rich and the selfish became liberal and generous; and 
when, on the Nativity of Our Lady, 1555, St. Thomas 
came to die, he was well-nigh the only poor man in his see. 

Reflection. — "Answer me, 0 sinner 1 99 St. Thomas 
would say, " what can you purchase with your money better 
or more necessary than the redemption of your sins?" 




318 



LIVES OF THE 8AINT8 [September 20 



September 19.— ST. JANUARIUS, Martyr. 

any centuries ago, St. Januarius died for the Faith 
in the persecution of Diocletian, and to this day- 
God confirms the faith of His Church, and works a con- 
tinual miracle, through the blood which J anuarius shed for 
Him. The Saint was Bishop of Beneventum, and on one 
occasion he travelled to Misenum in order to visit a deacon 
named Sosius. During this visit Januarius saw the head 
of Sosius, who was singing the gospel in the church, girt 
with flames, and took this for a sign that ere long Sosius 
would wear the crown of martyrdom. So it proved. 
Shortly after Sosius was arrested, and thrown into prison. 
There St. Januarius visited and encouraged him, till the 
bishop also was arrested in turn. Soon the number of the 
confessors was swollen by some of the neighboring clergy. 
They were exposed to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre. 
The beasts, however, did them no harm; and at last the 
Governor of Campania ordered the Saints to be beheaded. 
Little did the heathen governor think that he was the in- 
strument in God's hand of ushering in the long succession 
of miracles which attest the faith of J anuarius. The relics 
of St. Januarius rest in the cathedral of Naples, and it is 
there that the liquefaction of his blood occurs. The blood 
is congealed in two glass vials, but when it is brought near 
the martyr's head it melts and flows like the blood of a 
living man. 

Reflection. — Thank God Who has given you superabun- 
dant motives for your faith ; and pray for the spirit of the 
first Christians, the spirit which exults and rejoices in be- 
lief. 

September 20.— STS. EUSTACHIUS and Compan- 
ions, Martyrs. 

ustachius, called Placidus before his conversion, was 
a distinguished officer of the Roman army under 
the Emperor Trajan. One day, whilst hunting a deer, he 
suddenly perceived between the horns of the animal the 





September 21] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



319 



image of our crucified Saviour. Eesponsive to what he 
considered a voice from heaven, he lost not a moment in 
becoming a Christian. In a short time he lost all his pos- 
sessions and his position, and his wife and children were 
taken from him. Eeduced to the most abject poverty, he 
took service with a rich land-owner to tend his fields. In 
the mean time the empire suffered greatly from the ravages 
of barbarians. Trajan sought out our Saint, and placed 
him in command of the troops sent against the enemy. 
During this campaign he found his wife and children, 
whom he despaired of ever seeing again. Eeturning home 
victorious, he was received in triumph and loaded with 
honors; but the emperor having commanded him to sac- 
rifice to the false gods, he refused. Infuriated at this, 
Trajan ordered Eustachius with his wife and children to 
be exposed to two starved lions; but instead of harming 
these faithful servants of God, the beasts merely frisked 
and frolicked about them. The emperor, grown more 
furious at this, caused the martyrs to be shut up inside a 
brazen bull, under which a fire was kindled, and in this 
horrible manner they were roasted to death. 

Reflection. — It is not enough to encounter dangers with 
resolution; we must with equal courage and constancy 
vanquish pleasure and the softer passions, or we possess 
not the virtue of true fortitude. 

September 21. — ST. MATTHEW, Apostle. 

One day, as Our Lord was walking by the Sea of Galilee, 
He saw, sitting at the receipt of custom, Matthew 
the publican, whose business it was to collect the taxes 
from the people for their Eoman masters. Jesus said to 
him, " Follow Me ; 79 and leaving all, Matthew arose and 
followed Him. Now the publicans were abhorred by the 
Jews as enemies of their country, outcasts, and notorious 
sinners, who enriched themselves by extortion and fraud. 
No Pharisee would sit with one at table. Our Saviour 
alone had compassion for them. So St. Matthew made a 
great feast, to which he invited Jesus and His disciples, 
with a number of these publicans, who henceforth began 



320 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [September 22 



eagerly to listen to Him. It was then, in answer to the 
murmurs of the Pharisees, that He said, " They that are 
in health need not the physician. I have not come to call 
the just, but sinners to penance." After the Ascension, 
St. Matthew remained some years in Judaea, and there 
wrote his gospel, to teach his countrymen that Jesus was 
their true Lord and King, foretold by the prophets. St. 
Matthew afterward preached the Faith far and wide, and 
is said to have finished his course in Parthia. 

Reflection. — Obey all inspirations of Our Lord as 
promptly as St. Matthew, who, at a single word, "laid 
down," says St. Bridget, " the heavy burden of the world 
to put on the light and sweet yoke of Christ/' 

September 22. — THE THEBAN LEGION. 

he Theban legion numbered more than six thousand 
men. They marched from the East into Gaul, and 
proved their loyalty at once to their Emperor and to their 
God. They were encamped near the Lake of Geneva, un- 
der the Emperor Maximian, when they got orders to turn 
their swords against the Christian population, and refused 
to obey. In his fury Maximian ordered them to be deci- 
mated. The order was executed once and again, but they 
endured this without a murmur or an effort to defend 
themselves. St. Maurice, the chief captain in this legion 
of martyrs, encouraged the rest to persevere and follow 
their comrades to heaven. " Know, 0 Emperor," he said, 
" that we are your soldiers, but we are servants also of the 
true God. In all things lawful we will most readily obey, 
but we cannot stain our hands in this innocent blood. We 
have seen our comrades slain, and we rejoice at their honor. 
We have arms, but we resist not, for we had rather die 
without shame than live by sin." As the massacre began, 
these generous soldiers flung down their arms, offered their 
necks to the sword, and suffered themselves to be butchered 
in silence. 

Reflection. — Thank God for every slight and injury you 
have to bear. An injury borne in meekness and silence is 




September 24] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



321 



a true victory. It is the proof that we are good soldiers of 
Jesus Christ, disciples of that heavenly wisdom which is 
first pure, then peaceable. 



September 23.— ST. THECLA, Virgin, Martyr. 

T. Thecla is one of the most ancient, as she is one of 
the most illustrious, Saints in the calendar of the 
Church. It was at Iconium that St. Paul met St. Thecla, 
and kindled the love of virginity in her heart. She had 
been promised in marriage to a young man who was rich 
and generous. But at the Apostle's words she died to the 
thought of earthly espousals; she forgot her beauty; she 
was deaf to her parents' threats, and at the first opportunity 
she fled from a luxurious home and followed St. Paul. 
The rage of her parents and of her intended spouse fol- 
lowed hard upon her; and the Eoman power did its worst 
against the virgin whom Christ had chosen for His own. 
She was stripped and placed in the public theatre ; but her 
innocence shrouded her like a garment. Then the lions 
were let loose against her ; they fell crouching at her feet, 
and licked them as if in veneration. Even fire could not 
harm her. Torment after torment was inflicted upon her 
without effect, till at last her Spouse spoke the word and 
called her to Himself, with the double crown of virginity 
and martyrdom on her head. 

Reflection.- — It is purity in soul and body which will 
make you strong in pain, in temptation, and in the hour 
of death. Imitate the purity of this glorious virgin, and 
take her for your special patroness in your last agony. 




September 24. — THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY 
OF MERCY. 

/S5[t. Peter, of the noble family of Nolaseo, was born in 
sfJ Languedoc, about 1189. At the age of twenty-five 
he took a vow of chastity, and made over his vast estates 
to the Church. Some time after, he conceived the idea of 
establishing an order for the redemption of captives. The 



322 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [September 25 



divine will was soon manifested. The Blessed Virgin ap- 
peared on the same night to Peter, to Kaymund of Penna- 
fort, his confessor, and to James, King of Arragon, his 
ward, and bade them prosecute without fear their holy 
designs. After great opposition, the Order was solemnly 
established, and approved by Gregory IX., under the name 
of Our Lady of Mercy. By the grace of God, and under 
the protection of His Virgin Mother, the Order spread rap- 
idly, its growth being increased by the charity and piety of 
its members, who devoted themselves not only to collecting 
alms for the ransom of the Christians, but even gave them- 
selves up to voluntary slavery to aid the good work. It is 
to return thanks to God and the Blessed Virgin that a feast 
was instituted which was observed in the Order of Mercy, 
then in Spain and France, and at last extended to the 
whole Church by Innocent XII., and the 24th September 
named as the day on which it is to be observed. 

Reflection. — St. Peter Nolasco and his knights were lay- 
men, not priests, and yet they considered the salvation of 
their neighbor intrusted to them. We can each of us by 
counsel, by prayer, but above all by holy example, assist 
the salvation of our brethren, and thus secure our own. 

September 25. — ST. FIRMIN, Bishop, Martyr.— ST, 
FINBARR, Bishop. 

T. Firmiist was a native of Pampelone in Navarre, 
initiated in the Christian faith by Honestus, a dis- 
ciple of St. Saturninus of Toulouse, and consecrated bishop 
by St. Honoratus, successor to St. Saturninus, in order to 
preach the Gospel in the remoter parts of Gaul. He 
preached the Faith in the countries of Agen, Anjou, and 
Beauvais, and being arrived at Amiens, there chose his 
residence, and founded there a numerous church of faith- 
ful disciples. He received the crown of martyrdom in that 
city, whether under the prefect Eictius Varus, or in some 
other persecution from Decius, in 250, to Diocletian, in 
303, is uncertain. 

St. Finbarr, who lived in the sixth century, was a na- 
tive of Connaught, and instituted a monastery or school at 




September 26] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



323 



Lough Eire, to which such numbers of disciples flocked, as 
changed, as it were, a desert into a large city. This was 
the origin of the city of Cork, which was built chiefly upon 
stakes, in marshy little islands formed by the river Lea. 
The right name of our Saint, under which he was baptized, 
was Lochan; the surname Finbarr, or Barr the White, was 
afterward given him. He was Bishop of Cork seventeen 
years, and died in the midst of his friends at Cloyne, fif- 
teen miles from Cork. His body was buried in his own 
cathedral at Cork, and his relics, some years after, were 
put in a silver shrine, and kept there, this great church 
bearing his name to this day. St. Finbarr's cave or her- 
mitage was shown in a monastery which seems to have 
been begun by our Saint, and stood to the west of Cork. 



September 26.— STS. CYPRIAN and JUSTINA, 
Martyrs. 

j^\HE detestable superstition of St. Cyprian's idolatrous 
parents devoted him from his infancy to the devil, 
and he was brought up in all the impious mysteries of idol- 
atry, astrology, and the black art. When Cyprian had 
learned all the extravagances of these schools of error and 
delusion, he hesitated at no crimes, blasphemed Christ, and 
committed secret murders. There lived at Antioch a 
young Christian lady called Justina, of high birth and 
great beauty. A pagan nobleman fell deeply in love with 
her, and finding her modesty inaccessible, and her reso- 
lution invincible, he applied to Cyprian for assistance. 
Cyprian, no less smitten with the lady, tried every secret 
with which he was acquainted to conquer her resolution. 
Justina, perceiving herself vigorously attacked, studied to 
arm herself by prayer, watchfulness, and mortification 
against all his artifices and the power of his spells. 
Cyprian finding himself worsted by a superior powder, be- 
gan to consider the weakness of the infernal spirits, and 
resolved to quit their service and become a Christian. 
Agladius, who had been the first suitor to the holy virgin, 
was likewise converted and baptized. The persecution of 
Diocletian breaking out, Cyprian and Justina were seized, 



324 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [September 27 



and presented to the same judge. She was inhumanly 
scourged, and Cyprian was torn with iron hooks. After 
this they were both sent in chains to Diocletian, who com- 
manded their heads to be struck off, which sentence was 
executed. 

Reflection. — If the errors and disorders of St. Cyprian 
show the degeneracy of human nature corrupted by sin 
and enslaved to vice, his conversion displays the power of 
grace and virtue to repair it. Let us beg of God to send 
us grace to resist temptation, and to do His holy will in all 
things. 

September 27.— STS. COSMAS and DAMIAN, 
Martyrs. 

ts. Cosmas and Damian were brothers, and born in 
Arabia, but studied the sciences in Syria, and be- 
came eminent for their skill in physic. Being Christians, 
and full of that holy temper of charity in which the spirit 
of our divine religion consists, they practised their pro- 
fession with great application and wonderful success, but 
never took any fee. They were loved and respected by the 
people on account of the good offices received from their 
charity, and for their zeal for the Christian faith, which 
they took every opportunity to propagate. When the per- 
secution of Diocletian began to rage, it was impossible for 
persons of so distinguished a character to lie concealed. 
They were therefore apprehended by the order of Lysias, 
Governor of Cilicia, and after various torments were 
bound hand and foot and thrown into the sea. 

Reflection. — We may sanctify our labor or industry, if 
actuated by the motive of charity toward others, even 
whilst we fulfil the obligation we owe to ourselves and our 
families of procuring an honest and necessary subsistence, 
which of itself is no less noble a virtue, if founded in 
motives equally pure and perfect. 




September 29] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



325 



September 28. — ST. WENCESLAS, Martyr. 

enceslas was the son of a Christian Duke of Bohemia, 
but his mother was a hard and cruel pagan. 
Through the care of his holy grandmother, Ludmilla, her- 
self a martyr, Wenceslas was educated in the true faith, 
and imbibed a special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, 
On the death of his father, his mother, Drahomira, usurped 
the government and passed a series of persecuting laws. 
In the interests of the Faith Wenceslas claimed and ob- 
tained, through the support of the people, a large portion 
of the country as his own kingdom. His mother secured 
the apostasy and alliance of her second son, Boleslas, who 
became henceforth her ally against the Christians. Wen- 
ceslas meanwhile ruled as a brave and pious king, pro- 
vided for all the needs of his people, and when his kingdom 
was attacked, overcame in single combat, by the sign of 
the cross, the leader of an invading army. In the service 
of God he was most constant, and planted with his own 
hands the wheat and grapes for the Holy Mass, at which 
he never failed daily to assist. His piety was the occasion 
of his death. Once, after a banquet at his brother's pal- 
ace, to which he had been treacherously invited, he went, as 
was his wont at night, to pray before the tabernacle. 
There, at midnight on the feast of the Angels, 938, he 
received his crown of martyrdom, his brother dealing him 
the death-blow. 

Reflection. — -St. Wenceslas teaches us that the safest 
place to meet the trials of life, or to prepare for the stroke 
of death, is before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. 




September 29.— ST. MICHAEL, Archangel. 

4 *yKi-CA-EL," or " Who is like to God?" Such was the 
%*A cry of the great Archangel when he smote the rebel 
Lucifer in the conflict of the heavenly hosts, and from 
that hour he has been known as " Michael," the captain of 
the armies of God, the type of divine fortitude, the cham- 
pion of every faithful soul in strife with the powers of evil. 



326 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [September 30 



Thus he appears in Holy Scripture as the guardian of the 
children of Israel, their comfort and protector in times of 
sorrow or conflict. He it is who prepares for their return 
from the Persian captivity, who leads the valiant Macca- 
bees to victory, and who rescues the body of Moses from 
the envious grasp of the Evil One. And since Christ's 
coming the Church has ever venerated St. Michael as her 
special patron and protector. She invokes him by name in 
her confession of sin, summons him to the side of her chil- 
dren in the agony of death, and chooses him as their escort 
from the chastening flames of purgatory to the realms of 
holy light. Lastly, when Antichrist shall have set up his 
kingdom on earth, it is Michael who will unfurl once more 
the standard of the Cross, sound the last trumpet, and 
binding together the false prophet and the beast, hurl them 
for all eternity into the burning pool. 

Reflection. — "Whenever," says St. Bernard, "any 
grievous temptation or vehement sorrow oppresses thee, 
invoke thy guardian, thy leader; cry out to him, and say, 
c Lord, save us, lest we perish ! ' 99 

September 30.— ST. JEROME, Doctor. 

t. Jerome, born in Dalmatia, in 329, was sent to 
school at Borne. His boyhood was not free from 
fault. His thirst for knowledge was excessive, and his love 
of books a passion. He had studied under the best mas- 
ters, visited foreign cities, and devoted himself to the 
pursuit of science. But Christ had need of his strong 
will and active intellect for the service of His Church. 
St. Jerome felt and obeyed the call, made a vow of celi- 
bacy, fled from Eome to the wild Syrian desert, and there 
for four years learnt in solitude, penance, and prayer 
a new lesson of divine wisdom. This was his novitiate. 
The Pope soon summoned him to Eome, and there put 
upon the now famous Hebrew scholar the task of revising 
the Latin Bible, which was to be his noblest work. Ee- 
tiring thence to his beloved Bethlehem, the eloquent her- 
mit poured forth from his solitary cell for thirty years a 
stream of luminous writings upon the Christian world. 




October 2] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



327 



Reflection. — " To know/' says St. Basil, " how to sub- 
mit thyself with thy whole soul, is to know how to imitate 
Christ" 

October i. — ST. REMIGIUS, Bishop. 

emigius, or Eemi, was born of noble and pious parents. 
At the age of twenty-two, in spite of the canons and 
of his own reluctance, he was acclaimed Archbishop of 
Eheims. He was unusually tall, his face impressed with 
blended majesty and serenity, his bearing gentle, humble, 
and retiring. He was learned and eloquent, and had the 
gift of miracles. His pity and charity were boundless, and 
in toil he knew no weariness. His body was the outward 
expression of a noble and holy soul, breathing the spirit of 
meekness and compunction. For so choice a workman 
God had fitting work. The South of France was in the 
hands of Arians, and the pagan Franks were wresting the 
North from the Eomans. St. Bemigius confronted Clovis, 
their king, and converted and baptized him at Christmas, 
in 496. With him he gained the whole Frank nation. 
He threw down the idol altars, built churches, and ap- 
pointed bishops. He withstood and silenced the Arians, 
and converted so many that he left France a Catholic 
kingdom, its king the oldest and at the time the only 
crowned son of the Church. He died in 533, after an 
episcopate of seventy-four years, the longest on record. 

Reflection. — Few men have had such natural advan- 
tages and such gifts of grace as St. Eemi, and few have 
done so great a work. Learn from him to bear the 
world's praise as well as its scorn with a lowly and chas- 
tened heart. 

October 2. — THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS. 

od does not abandon to mere chance any of His handi- 
works; by His providence He is everywhere present; 
not a hair falls from the head or a sparrow to the ground 
without. His knowledge. Not content, however, with 





328 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [Octobek 3 



yielding such familiar help in all things, not content with 
affording that existence which He communicates and per- 
petuates through every living being, He has charged His 
angels with the ministry of watching and safeguarding 
every one of His creatures that behold not His face. 
Kingdoms have their angels assigned to them, and men 
have their angels; these latter it is whom religion desig- 
nates as the Holy Guardian Angels. Our Lord says in 
the Gospel, " Beware lest ye scandalize any of these little 
ones, for their angels in heaven see the face of My 
Father." The existence of Guardian Angels is, hence, a 
dogma of the Christian faith: this being so, what ought 
not our respect be for that sure and holy intelligence that 
is ever present at our side; and how great should our 
solicitude be, lest, by any act of ours, we offend those eyes 
which are ever bent upon us in all our ways ! 

Reflection. — Ah! let us not give occasion, in the lan- 
guage of Holy Scripture, to the angels of peace to weep 
bitterly. 

October 3.— ST. GERARD, Abbot. 

T. Gerard was of a noble family of the county of 
ISTamur, France. An engaging sweetness of temper, 
and a strong inclination to piety and devotion, gained him 
from the cradle the esteem and affection of every one. 
Having been sent on an important mission to the Court of 
France, he was greatly edified at the fervor of the monks 
of St. Denis, at Paris, and earnestly desired to consecrate 
himself to God with them. Eeturning home he settled his 
temporal affairs, and went back with great joy to St. 
Denis'. He had lived ten years with great fervor in this 
monastery, when in 931 he was sent by his abbot to found 
an abbey upon his estate at Brogne, three leagues from 
Namur. He settled this new abbey, and then built him- 
self a little cell near the church, and lived in it a recluse 
until God called him to undertake the reformation of many 
monasteries, which he did successfully. When he had 
spent almost twenty years in these zealous labors, he shut 
himself up in his cell, to prepare his soul to receive the 




Octobee 4] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



329 



recompense of his labors, to which he was called on the 3d 
of October in 959. 

Reflection. — Though we are in the world, let us strive 
to separate ourselves from it and consecrate ourselves to 
God, remembering that "the world passeth away, but he 
that doth the will of God abideth forever." 

October 4. — ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISL 

t. Francis, the son of a merchant of Assisi, was born 
in that city in 1182. Chosen by God to be a living 
manifestation to the world of Christ's poor and suffering 
life on earth, he was early inspired with a high esteem and 
burning love of poverty and humiliation. The thought of 
the Man of Sorrows, Who had not where to lay His head, 
filled him with holy envy of the poor, and constrained him 
to renounce the wealth and worldly station which he ab- 
horred. The scorn and hard usage which he met with 
from his father and townsmen when he appeared among 
them in the garb of poverty were delightful to him. 
u Now," he exclaimed, u I can say truly, 6 Our Father 
Who art in heaven/ " But divine love burned in him too 
mightily not to kindle like desires in other hearts. Many 
joined themselves to him, and were constituted by Pope 
Innocent III. into a religious Order, which spread rapidly 
throughout Christendom. St. Francis, after visiting the 
East in the vain quest of martyrdom, spent his life like 
his Divine Master- — now in preaching to the multitudes, 
now amid desert solitudes in fasting and contemplation. 
During one of these retreats he received on his hands, feet, 
and side the print of the five bleeding wounds of Jesus. 
With the erv, "Welcome, sister Death," he passed to the 
glory of his "God October 4, 1226. 

Reflection. — " My God and my all/' St. Francis' con- 
stant prayer, explains both his poverty and his wealth. 




330 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [October 6 



October 5.— ST. PLACID, Martyr. 

t. Placid was born in Kome, in the year 515, of a 
patrician family, and at seven years of age was 
taken by his father to the monastery of Subiaco. At 
thirteen years of age he followed St. Benedict to the new 
foundation at Monte Casino, where he grew up in the 
practice of a wonderful austerity and innocence of life. 
He had scarcely completed his twenty-first year when he 
was selected to establish a monastery in Sicily upon some 
estates which had been given by his father to St. Benedict. 
He spent four years in building his monastery, and the 
fifth had not elapsed before an inroad of barbarians 
burned everything to the ground, and put to a lingering 
death not only St. Placid and thirty monks who had 
joined him, but also his two brothers, Eutychius and 
Victorinus, and his holy sister Flavia, who had come to 
visit him. The monastery was rebuilt, and still stands 
Tinder his invocation. 

Reflection. — Adversity is the touchstone of the soul, be- 
cause it discovers the character of the virtue which it 
possesses. One act of thanksgiving when matters go 
wrong with us is worth a thousand thanks when things are 
agreeable to our inclinations. 




October 6. — ST. BRUNO. 

*P^runo was born at Cologne, about 1030, of an illus- 
v ^Lr trious family. He was endowed with rare natural 
gifts, which he cultivated with care at Paris. He became 
canon of Cologne, and then of Eheims, where he had the 
direction of theological studies. On the death of the 
bishop the see fell for a time into evil hands, and Bruno 
retired with a few friends into the country. There he 
resolved to forsake the world, and to live a life of retire- 
ment and penance. With six companions he applied to 
Hugh, Bishop of Grenoble, who led them into a wild soli- 
tude called the Chartreuse. There they lived in poverty, 
self-denial, and silence, each apart in his own cell, meet- 



October 7] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



331 



ing only for the worship of God, and employing themselves 
in copying books. From the name of the spot the Order 
of St. Bruno was called the Carthusian. Six years later, 
Urban II. called Bruno to Kome, that he might avail 
himself of his guidance. Bruno tried to live there as he 
had lived in the desert; but the echoes of the great city 
disturbed his solitude, and, after refusing high dignities, 
he wrung from the Pope permission to resume his monas- 
tic life in Calabria. There he lived, in humility and mor- 
tification and great peace, till his blessed death in 1101. 

Reflection. — " 0 everlasting kingdom," said St. Augus- 
tine; "kingdom of endless ages, whereon rests the un- 
troubled light and the peace of God which passeth all 
understanding, where the souls of the Saints are in rest, 
and everlasting joy is on their heads, and sorrow and 
sighing have fled away! When shall I come and appear 
before God ? " 

October 7.— ST. MARK, Pope. 

t. Mark was by birth a Eoman, and served God with 
such fervor among the clergy of that Church, that, 
advancing continually in sincere humility and the knowl- 
edge and sense of his own weakness and imperfections, he 
strove every day to surpass himself in the fervor of his 
charity and zeal, and in the exercise of all virtues. The 
persecution ceased in the West, in the beginning of the 
year 305, but was revived a short time after by Maxentius. 
St. Mark abated nothing of his watchfulness, but endeav- 
ored rather to redouble his zeal during the peace of the 
Church; knowing that if men sometimes cease openly to 
persecute the faithful, the devil never allows them any 
truce, and his snares are generally most to be feared in 
the time of the calm. St. Mark succeeded St. Sylvester 
in the apostolic chair on the 18th of January, 336. He 
held that dignity only eight months and twenty days, dy- 
ing on the 7th of October following. He was buried in a 
cemetery in the Ardeatine Way, which has since borne his 
name. 




332 



LIVES OF THE SAINT8 [October 9 



Reflection. — A Christian ought to be afraid of no en- 
emy more than himself, whom he carries always about 
with him, and from whom he is not able to flee. He 
should therefore never cease to cry out to God, "Unless 
Thou, 0 Lord, art my light and support, I watch in vain." 

October 8.— ST. BRIDGET OF SWEDEN. 

EIdget was born of the Swedish royal family, in 
1304. In obedience to her father, she was married 
to Prince Ulpho of Sweden, and became the mother of 
eight children, one of whom, Catherine, is honored as a 
Saint. After some years she and her husband separated 
by mutual consent. He entered the Cistercian Order, and 
Bridget founded the Order of St. Saviour, in the Abbey of 
Wastein, in Sweden. In 1344 she became a widow, and 
thenceforth received a series of the most sublime revela- 
tions, all of which she scrupulously submitted to the judg- 
ment of her confessor. By the command of Our Lord, 
Bridget went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and 
amidst the very scenes of the Passion was further in- 
structed in the sacred mysteries, She died in 1373. 

Reflection. — " Is confession a matter of much time or 
expense ? " asks St. John Chrysostom. " Is it a difficult 
and painful remedy? Without cost or hurt, the medicine 
is ever ready to restore you to perfect health " 

October 9.— ST. DIONYSIUS and his Companions, 
Martyrs.— ST. LOUIS BERTRAND. 

OF all the Roman missionaries sent into Gaul, St. 
Dionysius carried the Faith the furthest into the 
country, fixing his see at Paris, and by him and his dis- 
ciples the sees of Chartres, Senlis, Meaux, and Cologne 
were erected in the fourth century. During the persecu- 
tion of Valerian he was arrested and thrown into prison, 
and after remaining there for some time was beheaded, 
together with St. Rusticus, a priest, and Eleutherius, a 
deacon. 




October 10J LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



333 



St. Louis Bertrand was born at Valencia, in Spain, in 
1526, of the same family as St. Vincent Ferrer. In 1545, 
after severe trials, he was professed in the Dominican 
Order, and at the age of twenty-five was made master of 
novices, and trained up many great servants of God. 
When the plague broke out in Valencia he devoted himself 
to the sick and dying, and with his own hands buried the 
dead. In 1562 he obtained leave to embark for the Amer- 
ican mission, and there converted vast multitudes to the 
Faith. He was favored with the gift of miracles, and 
while preaching in his native Spanish was understood in 
various languages. After seven years he returned to 
Spain, to plead the cause of the oppressed Indians, but he 
was not permitted to return and labor among them. He 
spent his remaining days toiling in his own country, till at 
length, in 1580, he was carried from the pulpit in the 
Cathedral at Valencia to the bed from whence he never 
rose. He died on the day he had foretold — October 9, 
1581. 

Reflection. — The Saints fasted, toiled, and wept, not 
only for love of God, but for fear of damnation. How 
shall we, with our self-indulgent lives and unexamined 
consciences, face the judgment-seat of Christ? 

October io.— ST. FRANCIS BORGIA. 

Hrancis Borgia, Duke of Gandia and Captain-General 
of Catalonia, was one of the handsomest, richest, 
and most honored nobles in Spain, when, in 1539, there 
was laid upon him the sad duty of escorting the remains 
of his sovereign, Queen Isabella, to the royal burying-place 
at Granada. The coffin had to be opened for him that he 
might verify the body before it was placed in the tomb, 
and so foul a sight met his eyes that he vowed never 
again to serve a sovereign who could suffer so base a 
change. It was some years before he could follow the call 
of his Lord; at length he entered the Society of Jesus to 
cut himself off from any chance of dignity or preferment. 
But his Order chose him to be its head. The Turks were 
threatening Christendom, and St. Pius V. sent his nephew 



334 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [October 11 



to gather Christian princes into a league for its defence. 
The holy Pope chose Francis to accompany him, and, 
worn out though he was, the Saint obeyed at once. The 
fatigues of the embassy exhausted what little life was 
left. St. Francis died on his return to Kome, October 
10, 1572. 

Reflection. — St. Francis Borgia learnt the worthlessness 
of earthly greatness at the funeral of Queen Isabella. Do 
the deaths of friends teach us aught about ourselves? 

October n.— ST. TARACHUS and his Companions. 

Xn the year 304, Tarachus, Probus, and Andronicus, 
differing in age and nationality, but united in the 
bonds of faith, being denounced as Christians to Nuinerian, 
Governor of Cilicia, were arrested at Pompeiopolis, and 
conducted to Tharsis. They underwent a first examina- 
tion in that town, after which their limbs were torn with 
iron hooks, and they were taken back to prison covered 
with wounds. Being afterwards led to Mopsuestia, they 
were submitted to a second examination, ending in a man- 
ner equally cruel as the first. They underwent a third 
examination at Anazarbis, followed by greater torments 
still. The governor, unable to shake their constancy, had 
them kept imprisoned that he might torture them further 
at the approaching games. They were borne to the amphi- 
theatre, but the most ferocious animals, on being let loose 
on them, came crouching to their feet and licked their 
wounds. The judge, reproaching the jailers with conniv- 
ance, ordered the martyrs to be despatched by the gladia- 
tors. 

Reflection. — Such is true Christian devotion. u Neither 
death nor life shall be able to separate us from the love 
that is in Christ Jesus." 



October 13] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



335 



October 12. — ST. WILFRID, Bishop. 

**?""T quick walker, expert at all good works, with never a 
!L-X sour face " — such was the great St. Wilfrid, whose 
glory it was to secure the happy links which bound Eng- 
land to Rome. He was born about the year 634, and was 
trained by the Celtic monks at Lindisfarne in the peculiar 
rites and usages of the British Church. Yet even as a boy 
Wilfrid longed for perfect conformity in discipline, as in 
doctrine, with the Holy See, and at the first chance set off 
himself for Rome. On his return he founded at Ripon 
a strictly Roman monastery, under the rule of St. Bene- 
dict. In the year 664 he was elected Bishop of Lindis- 
farne, and five years later was transferred to the see of 
York. He had to combat the passions of wicked kings, 
the cowardice of worldly prelates, the errors of holy men. 
He was twice exiled and once imprisoned; yet the battle 
which he fought was won. He swept away the abuses of 
many years and a too national system, and substituted in- 
stead, a vigorous Catholic discipline, modelled and de- 
pendent on Rome. He died October 12, 709, and at his 
death was heard the sweet melody of the angels conducting 
his soul to Christ. 

Reflection. — To look towards Rome is an instinct 
planted in us for the preservation of the Faith. Trust in 
the Vicar of Christ necessarily results from the reign of 
His love in our hearts. 

October 13.— ST. EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. 

dward was unexpectedly raised to the throne of Eng- 
land at the age of forty years, twenty-seven of 
which he had passed in exile. On the throne, the virtues 
of his earlier years, simplicity, gentleness, lowliness, but 
above all his angelic purity, shone with new brightness. 
By a rare inspiration of God, though he married to content 
his nobles and people, he preserved perfect chastity in the 
wedded state. So little did he set his heart on riches, that 
thrice when he saw a servant robbing his treasury he let 




336 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [October 14 



him escape, saying the poor fellow needed the gold more 
than he. He loved to stand at his palace-gate, speaking 
kindly to the poor beggars and lepers who crowded about 
him, and many of whom he healed of their diseases. The 
long wars had brought the kingdom to a sad state, but 
Edward's zeal and sanctity soon wrought a great change. 
His reign of twenty-four years was one of almost un- 
broken peace, the country grew prosperous, the ruined 
churches rose under his hand, the weak lived secure, and 
for ages afterwards men spoke with affection of the " laws 
of good St. Edward/' The holy king had a great devotion 
to building and enriching churches. Westminster Abbey 
was his latest and noblest work. He died January 5, 1066. 

Reflection. — David longed to build a temple for God's 
service. Solomon reckoned it his glory to accomplish the 
work. But we, who have God made flesh dwelling in our 
tabernacles, ought to think no time, no zeal, no treasures 
too much to devote to the splendor and beauty of a Chris- 
tian church. 

October 14.— ST. CALLISTUS, Pope, Martyr. 

arly in the third century, Callistus, then a deacon, 
was intrusted by Pope St. Zephyrinus with the rule 
of the clergy, and set by him over the cemeteries of the 
Christians at Rome; and, at the death of Zephyrinus, Cal- 
listus, according to the Eoman usage, succeeded to the 
Apostolic See. A decree is ascribed to him appointing the 
four fasts of the Ember seasons, but his name is best 
known in connection with the old cemetery on the Appian 
Way, which was enlarged and adorned by him, and is 
called to this day the Catacomb of St. Callistus. During 
the persecution under the Emperor Severus, St. Callistus 
was driven to take shelter in the poor and populous quar- 
ters of the city; yet, in spite of these troubles, and of the 
care of the Church, he made diligent search for the body 
of Calipodius, one of his clergy who had suffered martyr- 
dom shortly before, by being cast into the Tiber. When 
he found it he was full of joy, and buried it, with hymns 
of praise. Callistus was martyred October 14, 223. 




October 16] LIVES OF THE 8AINT8 



337 



Reflection. — In the body of a Christian we see that 
which has been the temple of the Holy Ghost, which even 
now is precious in the eyes of God, Who will watch over 
it, and one day raise it up in glory to shine forever in His 
kingdom. Let our actions bear witness to our belief in 
these truths. 

October 15.— ST. TERESA. 

>¥<hen" a child of seven years, Teresa ran away from her 
\MS home at Avila in Spain, in the hope of being mar- 
tyred by the Moors. Being brought back and asked the 
reason of her flight, she replied, u I want to see God, and 
I must die before I can see Him." She then began with 
her brother to build a hermitage in the garden, and was 
often heard repeating " Forever, forever." Some years 
later she became a Carmelite nun. Frivolous conversa- 
tions checked her progress towards perfection, but at last, 
in her thirty-first year, she gave herself wholly to God. 
A vision showed her the very place in hell to which her 
own light faults would have led her, and she lived ever 
after in the deepest distrust of self. She was called to 
reform her Order, favored with distinct commands from 
Our Lord, and her heart was pierced with divine love ; but 
she dreaded nothing so much as delusion, and to the last 
acted only under obedience to her confessors, which both 
made her strong and ker>t her safe. She died on October 
4, 1582. 

Reflection.—" After all I die a child of the Church." 
These were the Saint' s last words. They teach us the les- 
son of her life — to trust in humble, childlike obedience to 
our spiritual guides as the surest means of salvation. 



October 16.— ST. GALL, Abbot. 

T. Gall was born in Ireland soon after the middle of 
the sixth century, of pious, noble, and rich parents. 
When .St. Columban left Ireland, St. Gall accompanied 
him into England, and afterward into France, where they 




338 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [October 17 



arrived in 585. St. Columban founded the monastery of 
Anegray, in a wild forest in the diocese of Besangon, and 
two years afterward another in Luxeuil. Being driven 
thence by King Theodoric, the Saints both Withdrew into 
the territories of Theodebert. St. Columban, however, 
retired into Italy, but St. Gall was prevented from bearing 
him company by a grievous fit of illness. St. Gall was a 
priest before he left Ireland, and having learned the lan- 
guage of the country where he settled, near the Lake of 
Constance, he converted to the faith a great number of 
idolaters. The cells which this Saint built there for those 
who desired to serve God with him, he gave to the mon- 
astery which bears his name. A synod of bishops, with the 
clergy and people, earnestly desired to place the Saint in 
the episcopal see of Constance; but his modesty refused 
the dignity. He died in the year 646. 

Reflection. — "If any one would be My disciple," says 
Our Saviour, " let him deny himself." The denial of self 
is, then, the royal road to perfection. 

October 17.— ST. HEDWIGE.— BLESSED MAR- 
GARET MARY ALACOQUE. 

t. Hedwige, the wife of Henry, Duke of Silesia, and 
the mother of his six children, led a humble, austere, 
and most holy life amidst all the pomp of royal state. 
Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament was the key-note of her 
life. Her valued privilege was to supply the bread and 
wine for the Sacred Mysteries, and she would attend each 
morning as many Masses as were celebrated. After the 
death of her husband she retired to the Cistercian convent 
of Trebnitz, where she lived under obedience to her daugh- 
ter Gertrude, who was abbess of the monastery, growing 
day by day in holiness, till God called her to Himself, in 
1242. 

Margaret Mary was born at Terreau in Burgundy, on 
the 22d July, 1647. During her infancy she showed a 
wonderfully sensitive horror of the very idea of sin. In 
1671 she entered the Order of the Visitation, at Paray-le- 
Monial, and was professed the following year. After 




Octobee 18] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



339 



purifying her by many trials, Jesus appeared to her in 
numerous visions, displaying to her His Sacred Heart, 
sometimes burning as a furnace, and sometimes torn and 
bleeding on account of the coldness and sins of men. In 
1675 the great revelation was made to her that she, in 
union with Father de la Colombiere, of the Society of 
Jesus, was to be the chief instrument for instituting the 
feast of the Sacred Heart, and for spreading that devotion 
throughout the world. She died on the 17th October, 
1690. 

Reflection. — Love for the Sacred Heart especially Hon- 
ors the Incarnation, and makes the soul grow rapidly in 
humility, generosity, patience, and union with its Be- 
loved. 

October 18.— ST. LUKE. 

/SSTt. Luke, a physician at Antioch, and a painter, be- 
lli/ came a convert of St. Paul, and afterwards his fellow- 
laborer. He is best known to us as the historian of the 
New Testament. Though not an eye-witness of Our Lord's 
life, the Evangelist diligently gathered information from 
the lips of the apostles, and wrote, as he tells us, all things 
in order. The acts of the Apostles were written by this 
Evangelist as a sequel to his Gospel, bringing the history 
of the Church down to the first imprisonment of St. Paul 
at Eome. The humble historian never names himself, but 
by his occasional use of " we 99 for " they 99 we are able to 
detect his presence in the scenes which he describes. We 
thus find that he sailed with St. Paul and Silas from Troas 
to Macedonia ; stayed behind apparently for seven years at 
Philippi, and, lastly, shared the shipwreck and perils of 
the memorable voyage to Eome. Here his own narrative 
ends, but from St. Paul's Epistles we learn that St. Luke 
was his faithful companion to the end. He died a mar- 
tyr's death some time afterwards in Achaia. 

Reflection. — Christ has given all He had for thee; do 
thou give all thou hast for Him. 



340 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [October 20 



October 19. — ST. PETER OF ALCANTARA. 

Qetek, while still a youth, left his home at Alcantara 
in Spain, and entered a convent of Discalced Fran- 
ciscans, tie rose quickly to high posts in the Order, but 
his thirst for penance was still unappeased, and in 1539, 
being then forty years old, he founded the first convent of 
the " Strict Observance." The cells of the friars resem- 
bled graves rather than dwelling-places. That of St. 
Peter himself was four feet and a half in length, so that 
he could never lie down; he ate but once in three days; 
his sack-cloth habit and a cloak were his only garments, 
and he never covered his head or feet. In the bitter win- 
ter he would open the door and window of his cell that, by 
closing them again, he might experience some sensation 
of warmth. Amongst those whom he trained to perfection 
was St. Teresa. He read her soul, approved of her spirit 
of prayer, and strengthened her to carry out her reforms. 
St. Peter died, with great joy, kneeling in prayer, Oc- 
tober 18, 1562, at the age of sixty-three. 

Reflection. — If men do not go about barefoot now, nor 
undergo sharp penances, as St. Peter did, there are many 
ways of trampling on the world; and Our Lord teaches 
them when He finds the necessary courage. 

October 20. — ST. JOHN CANTIUS. 

t. John was born at Kenty in Poland in 1403, and 
studied at Cracow with great ability, industry, and 
success, while his modesty and virtue drew all hearts to 
him. He was for a short time in charge of a parish; but 
he shrank from the burden of responsibility, and returned 
to his life of professor at Cracow. There for many years 
he lived a life of unobtrusive virtue, self-denial, and char- 
ity. His love for the Holy See led him often in pilgrim- 
age to Eome, on foot and alone, and his devotion to the 
Passion drew him once to Jerusalem, where he hoped to 
win a martyr's crown by preaching to the Turks. He died 
in 1473, at the age of seventy. 




October 22] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



341 



Reflection. — He who orders all his doings according to 
the will of God may often be spoken of by the world as 
simple and stupid; but in the end he wins the esteem and 
confidence of the world itself, and the approval and peace 
of God. 

October 21.— ST. URSULA, Virgin and Martyr. 

g number of Christian families had intrusted the edu- 
cation of their children to the care of the pious 
Ursula, and some persons of the world had in like manner 
placed themselves under her direction. England being 
then harassed by the Saxons, Ursula deemed that she 
ought, after the example of many of her compatriots, to 
seek an asylum in Gaul. She met with an abiding-place 
on the borders of the Ehine, not far from Cologne, where 
she hoped to find undisturbed repose ; but a horde of Huns 
having invaded the country, she was exposed, together 
with all those w T ho were under her guardianship, to the 
most shameful outrages. Without wavering, they pre- 
ferred one and all to meet death rather than incur shame. 
Ursula herself gave the example, and was, together with 
her companions, cruelly massacred in the year 453. The 
name of St. Ursula has from remote ages been held in 
great honor throughout the Church; she has always been 
regarded as the patroness of young persons and the model 
of teachers. 

Reflection. — In the estimation of the wise man, "the 
guarding of virtue" is the most important part of the 
education of youth. 

October 22. — ST. MELLO, Bishop.— ST. HI- 
LARION, Abbot. 

t. Mello is said to have been a native of Great 
Britain; his zeal for the Faith engaged him in the 
sacred ministry, and God having blessed his labors with 
wonderful success, he was consecrated first bishop of Rouen 
in Normandy, which see he is said to have held forty years. 




342 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [Octobee 23 



He died in peace, about the beginning of the fourth cen- 
tury. 

St. Hilarion was born of heathen parents, near Gaza, 
and was converted while studying grammar in Alexandria. 
Shortly after, he visited St. Antony, and, still only in his 
fifteenth year, he became a solitary in the Arabian desert. 
A multitude of monks, attracted by his sanctity, peopled 
the desert where he lived. In consequence of this, he fled 
from one country to another, seeking to escape the praise 
of men; but everywhere his miracles of mercy betrayed his 
presence. Even his last retreat at Cyprus was broken by 
a paralytic, who was cured by St. Hilarion, and then 
spread the fame of the Saint. He died with the words, 
" Go forth, my soul ; why dost thou doubt ? Nigh seventy 
years hast thou served God, and dost thou fear death ? " 

October 23.— ST. THEODORET, Martyr. 

Hbout the year 361, Julian, uncle to the emperor of 
that name, and like his nephew an apostate, was 
made Count of the East. He closed the Christian 
churches at Antioch, and when St. Theodoret assembled 
the Christians in private, he was summoned before the 
tribunal of the Count and most inhumanly tortured. His 
arms and feet were fastened by ropes to pulleys, and 
stretched until his body appeared nearly eight feet long, 
and the blood streamed from his sides. " 0 most wretched 
man," he said to his judge, "you know well that at the 
day of judgment the crucified God Whom you blaspheme 
will send you and the tyrant whom you serve to hell." 
Julian trembled at this awful prophecy, but he had the 
Saint despatched quickly by the sword, and in a little 
while the judge himself was arraigned before the judg- 
ment-seat of God. 

Reflection. — Those who do not go down to hell in 
spirit are very likely to go there in reality. Take care to 
meditate upon the four last things, and to live in holy 
fear. You will learn to love God better by thinking how 
He punishes those who do not love Him. 



October 25] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



343 



October 24.— ST. MAGLOIRE, Bishop. 

@T. Magloire was born in Brittany towards the end of 
the fifth century. When he and his cousin St. 
Sampson came of an age to choose their way in life, Samp- 
son retired into a monastery, and Magloire returned home, 
where he lived in the practice of virtue. Amon, Samp- 
son's father, having been cured by prayer of a dangerous 
disease, left the world, and with his entire family conse- 
crated himself to God. Magloire was so affected at this 
that, with his father, mother, and two brothers, he re- 
solved to fly the world, and they gave all their goods to 
the poor and the Church. Magloire and his father at- 
tached themselves to Sampson, and obtained his permis- 
sion to take the monastic habit in the house over which 
he presided. When Sampson was consecrated bishop, 
Magloire accompanied him in his apostolical labors in 
Armorica, or Brittany, and at his death he succeeded him 
in the Abbey of Dole and in the episcopal character. 
After three years he resigned his bishopric, being seventy 
years old, and retired into a desert on the continent, and 
some time after into the isle of Jersey, where he founded 
and governed a monastery of sixty monks. He died about 
the year 575. 

Reflection. — "Be mindful of them that have rule over 
you, who have spoken to you the word of God, whose faith 
follow, considering the end.* 5 

October 25.— STS. CRISPIN and CRISPINIAN, 
Martyrs. 

hese two glorious martyrs came from Borne *to preach 
the Faith in Gaul toward the middle of the third 
century. Fixing their residence at Soissons, they in- 
structed many in the Faith of Christ, which they preached 
publicly in the day, and at night they worked at making 
shoes, though they are said to have been nobly born, and 
brothers. The infidels listened to their instructions, and 
were astonished at the example of their lives, especially of 




344 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [October 26 



their charity, disinterestedness, heavenly piety, and con- 
tempt of glory and all earthly things; and the effect was 
the conversion of many to the Christian faith. The 
brothers had continued their employment several years 
when a complaint was lodged against them. The em- 
peror, to gratify their accusers and give way to his savage 
cruelty, gave orders that they should be convened before 
Eictius Varus, the most implacable enemy of the Chris- 
tians. The martyrs were patient and constant under the 
most cruel torments, and finished their course by the 
sword about the year 287. 

Reflection. — Of how many may it be said that " they 
labor in vain," since God is not the end and purpose that 
inspires the labor? 



October 26. — ST. EVARISTUS, Pope and Martyr. 

t. Evaristus succeeded St. Anacletus in the see of 
Rome, in the reign of Trajan, governed the Church 
nine years, and died in 112. The institution of cardinal 
priests is by some ascribed to him, because he first divided 
Rome into several titles or parishes, assigning a priest to 
each ; he also appointed seven deacons to attend the bishop. 
He conferred holy orders thrice in the month of December, 
when that ceremony was most usually performed, for holy 
orders were always conferred in seasons appointed for 
fasting and prayer. St. Evaristus was buried near St. 
Peter's tomb on the Vatican. 

Reflection. — The disciples of the apostles, by assiduous 
meditation on heavenly things, were so swallowed up in 
the life to come, that they seemed no longer inhabitants 
of this world. If Christians esteem and set their hearts 
on earthly goods, and lose sight of eternity in the course 
of their actions, they are no longer animated by the spirit 
of the primitive .Saints, and are become children of this 
world, slaves to its vanities, and to their own irregular 
passions. If we do not correct this disorder of our hearts, 
and conform our interior to the spirit of Christ, we cannot 
be entitled to His promises. 




October 28] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



345 



October 27.— ST. FRUMENTIUS, Bishop. 

T. Frumentius was yet a child when his uncle, Mero- 
pius of Tyre, took him and his brother Edesins on 
a voyage to Ethiopia. In the course of their voyage the 
vessel touched at a certain port, and the barbarians of that 
country put the crew and all the passengers to the sword, 
except the two children. They were carried to the king, 
at Axuma, who, charmed with the wit and sprightliness of 
the two boys, took special care of their education; and, 
not long after made Edesius his cup-bearer, and Frumen- 
tius, who was the elder, his treasurer and secretary of 
state; on his death-bed he thanked them for their serv- 
ices, and in recompense gave them their liberty. After 
his death the queen begged them to remain at court, and 
assist her in the government of the state until the young 
king came of age. Edesius went back to Tyre, but St. 
Athanasius ordained Frumentius Bishop of the Ethiopians, 
and vested with this sacred character he gained great 
numbers to the Faith, and continued to feed and defend 
his flock until it pleased the Supreme Pastor to recom- 
pense his fidelity and labors. 

Reflection. — "The soul that journeys in the light and 
the truths of the Faith is safe against all error." 

October 28.— STS. SIMON and JUDE. 

imon was a simple Galilean, called by Our Lord to be 
one of the pillars of His Church. Zelotes, "the 
zealot/* was the surname which he bore among the disci- 
ples. Armed with this zeal he went forth to the combat 
against unbelief and sin, and made conquest of many souls 
for His divine Lord. 

The apostle Jude, whom the Church commemorates on 
the same day, was a brother of St. James the Less. They 
were called "brethren of the Lord," on account of their 
relationship to His Blessed Mother. St. Jude preached 
first in Mesopotamia, as St. Simon did in Egypt; and 
finally they both met in Persia, where they won their crown 
together. 





346 



LIVES OF THE 8AINT8 [October 29 



Reflection.- — Zeal is an ardent love which makes a man 
fearless in defence of God's honor, and earnest at all costs 
to make known the truth. If we would be children of the 
Saints, we must be zealous for the Faith. 

October 29. — ST. NARCISSUS, Bishop. 

t. Narcissus was consecrated Bishop of Jerusalem 
about the year 180. He was already an old man, and 
God attested his merits by many miracles, which were 
long held in memory by the Christians of Jerusalem. One 
Holy Saturday in the church the faithful were in great 
trouble, because no oil could be found for the lamps which 
were used in the Paschal feast. St. Narcissus bade them 
draw water from a neighboring well, and, praying over it, 
told them to put it in the lamps. It was changed into 
oil, and long after some of this oil was preserved at Jeru- 
salem in memory of the miracle. But the very virtue of 
the Saint made him enemies, and three wretched men 
charged him with an atrocious crime. They confirmed 
their testimony by horrible imprecations: the first prayed 
that he might perish by fire, the second that he might be 
wasted by leprosy, the third that he might be struck blind, 
if they charged their bishop falsely. The holy bishop had 
long desired a life of solitude, and he withdrew secretly 
into the desert, leaving the Church in peace. But God 
spoke for His servant, and the bishop's accusers suffered the 
penalties they had invoked. Then Narcissus returned to 
Jerusalem and resumed his office. He died in extreme old 
age, bishop to the last. 

Reflection. — God never fails those who trust in Him; 
He guides them through darkness and through trials se- 
cretly and surely to their end, and in the evening time 
there is light. 




October 31] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



347 



October 30.— ST. MARCELLUS, THE CEN- 
TURION, Martyr. 

he birthday of the Emperor Maximian Herculeus, in 
the year 298, was celebrated with extraordinary feast- 
ing and solemnity. Marcellus, a Christian centurion or 
captain in the legion of Trajan, then posted in Spain, not 
to defile himself with taking part in those impious abom- 
inations, left his company, declaring aloud that he was a 
soldier of Jesus Christ, the eternal King. He was at once 
committed to prison. When the festival was over, Marcel- 
lus was brought before a judge, and, having declared his 
faith, was sent under a strong guard to Aurelian Agrico- 
laus, vicar to the prefect of the praetorium, who passed 
sentence of death upon him. St. Marcellus was forthwith 
led to execution, and beheaded on the 30th of October. 
Cassian, the secretary or notary of the court, refused to 
write the sentence pronounced against the martyr, because 
it was unjust. He was immediately hurried to prison, and 
was beheaded, about a month after, on the 3d of December. 

Reflection. — " We are ready to die rather than to trans- 
gress the laws of God ! " exclaimed one of the Machabees. 
This sentiment should ever be that of a Christian in pres- 
ence of temptation. 

October 31.— ST. QUINTIN, Martyr. 

T. Quintin was a Roman, descended from a senatorial 
family. Pull of zeal for the kingdom of Jesus 
Christ, he left his country, and, attended by St. Lucian of 
Beauvais, made his way to Gaul. They preached the Faith 
together in that country till they reached Amiens in Pic- 
ardy, where they parted. Lucian went to Beauvais, and, 
having sown the seeds of divine faith in the hearts of 
many, received the crown of martyrdom in that city. St. 
Quintin stayed at Amiens, endeavoring by his prayers and 
labors to make that country a portion of Our Lord^s inheri- 
tance. He was seized, thrown into prison, and loaded with 
chains. Finding the holy preacher proof against promises 





348 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [November 2 



and threats, the magistrate condemned him to the most 
barbarous torture. His body was then pierced with two 
iron wires from the neck to the thighs, and iron nails were 
thrust under his nails, and in his flesh in many places, par- 
ticularly into his skull ; and, lastly, his head was <jut off. 
His death happened on the 31st of October, 287. 

Reflection. — Let us bear in mind that the ills of this 
life are not worthy to be compared to the glory u God. has 
reserved for those who love Him." 

November i.— ALL-SAINTS. 

he Chureh pays, day by day, a special veneration to 
some one of the holy men and women who have 
helped to establish it by their blood, develop it by their 
labors, or edify it by their virtues. But, in addition to 
those whom the Church honors by special designation, or 
has inscribed in her calendar, how many martyrs are there 
whose names are not recorded ! How many humble virgins 
and holy penitents ! How many just and holy anchorites 
or young children snatched away in their innocence ! How 
many Christians who have died in grace, whose merits are 
known only to God, and who are themselves known only in 
heaven ! Now should we forget those who remember us in 
their intercessions? Besides, are they not our brethren, 
our ancestors, friends, and fellow-Christians, with whom 
we have lived in daily companionship — in other words, 
our own family? Yea, it is one family; and our place is 
marked out in this home of eternal light and eternal love. 

Reflection. — Let us have a solicitude to render ourselves 
worthy of "that chaste generation, so beautiful amid the 
glory where it dwells." 

November 2. — ALL-SOULS. 

he Church teaches us that the souls of the just who 
have left this world soiled with the stain of venial 
sin remain for a time in a place of expiation, where they 
suffer such punishment as may be due to their offences. It 





November 2] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



349 



is a matter of faith that these suffering souls are relieved 
by the intercession of the Saints in heaven and by the 
prayers of the faithful upon earth. To pray for the dead 
is, then, both an act of charity and of piety. We read in 
Holy Scripture : u It is a holy and wholesome thought to 
pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins." 
And when Our Lord inspired St. Odilo, Abbot of Cluny, 
towards the close of the tenth century, to establish in his 
Order a general commemoration of all the faithful de- 
parted, it was soon adopted by the whole Western Church, 
and has been continued unceasingly to our day. Let us, 
then, ever bear in mind the dead and offer up our prayers 
for them. By showing this mercy to the suffering souls in 
purgatory, we shall be particularly entitled to be treated 
with mercy at our departure from this world, and to share 
more abundantly in the general suffrages of the Church, 
continually offered for all who have slept in Christ. 



ST. MALACHI, Bishop. 

Omma his childhood Malachi would often separate him- 
self from his companions to converse in prayer with 
God. At the age of twenty-five he was ordained priest; 
his devotion and zeal led to his being consecrated Bishop of 
Connor, and shortly afterwards he was made Archbishop 
of his native city, Armagh. This see having by a long- 
standing abuse been held as an heirloom in one family, it 
required on the part of the .Saint no little tact and firmness 
to allay the dissensions caused by his election. One day, 
while St. Malachi was burying the dead, he was laughed at 
by his sister. When she died, he said many Masses for her. 
Some time afterwards, in a vision, he saw her, dressed in 
mourning, standing in a churchyard, and saying that she 
had not tasted food for thirty days. Eemembering that it 
was just thirty days since he last offered the Adorable Sac- 
rifice for her, he began again to do so, and was rewarded 
by other visions, in the last of which he saw her within the 
church, clothed in white, near the altar, and surrounded by 
bright spirits. He twice made a pilgrimage to Eome, to 
consult Christ's Vicar, the first time returning as Papal 



350 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [November 4 



Legate, amid the joy of his people, with the pall for 
Armagh; but the second time bound for a happier home. 
He was taken ill at Clairvaux. He died, aged fifty-four, 
where he fain would have lived, in St. Bernard's monastery, 
on the 2d of November, 1148. 

Reflection. — Our Lord said to St. Gertrude, " God ac- 
cepts every soul you set free, as if you had redeemed him 
from captivity, and will reward you in a fitting time for 
the benefit you have conferred." 

November 3. — ST. HUBERT, Bishop. 

t. Hubert's early life is so obscured by popular tradi- 
tions that we have no authentic account of his actions. 
He is said to have been passionately addicted to hunting, 
and was entirely taken up in worldly pursuits. One thing 
is certain: that he is the patron saint of hunters. Moved 
by divine grace, he resolved to renounce the world. His 
extraordinary fervor, and the great progress which he 
made in virtue and learning, strongly recommended him to 
St. Lambert, Bishop of Maestricht, who ordained him 
priest, and entrusted him with the principal share in the 
administration of his diocese. That holy prelate being 
barbarously murdered in 681, St. Hubert was unanimously 
chosen his successor. With incredible zeal he penetrated 
into the most remote and barbarous places of Ardenne, and 
abolished the worship of idols; and, as he performed the 
office of the apostles, God bestowed on him a like gift of 
miracles. He died on the 30th of May, in 727, reciting to 
his last breath the Creed and the Lord^s Prayer. 

Reflection. — What the Wise Man has said of Wisdom 
may be applied to Grace : " That it ordereth the means 
with gentleness, and attaineth its end with power." 

November 4.— ST. CHARLES BORROMEO. 

bout fifty years after the Protestant heresy had broken 
out, Our Lord raised up a mere youth to renew the 
face of His Church. In 1560 Charles Borromeo, then 
twenty-two years of age, was created cardinal, and by 





November 5] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



351 



the side of his uncle. Pins IV., administered the affairs of 
the Holy See. His first care was the direction of the 
Council of Trent. He urged forward its sessions, guided 
its deliberations by continual correspondence from Borne, 
and by his firmness carried it to its conclusion. Then he 
entered upon a still more arduous work — the execution of 
its decrees. As Archbishop of Milan he enforced their 
observance, and thoroughly restored the discipline of his 
see. He founded schools for the poor, seminaries for the 
clerics, and by his community of Oblates trained his priests 
to perfection. Inflexible in maintaining discipline, to his 
flock he was a most tender father. He would sit by the 
roadside to teach a poor man the Pater and Ave, and would 
enter hovels the stench of which drove his attendants from 
the door. During the great plague he refused to leave 
Milan, and was ever by the sick and dying, and sold even 
his bed for their support. So he lived and so he died, a 
faithful image of the Good Shepherd, up to his last hour 
giving his life for his sheep. 

Reflection. — Daily resolutions to fulfil, at all cost, every 
duty demanded by God, is the lesson taught by St. Charles ; 
and a lesson we must learn if we would overcome our cor- 
rupt nature and reform our lives. 

November 5. — ST. BERTILLE, Abbess. 

t. Bertille was born of one of the most illustrious 
families in the territory of Soissons, in the reign of 
Dagobert I. As she grew up she learned perfectly to de- 
spise the world, and earnestly desired to renounce it. Not 
daring to tell this to her parents, she first consulted St. 
Ouen, by whom she was encouraged in her resolution. The 
Saint's parents were then made acquainted with her desire, 
which God inclined them not to oppose. They conducted 
her to Jouarre, a great monastery in Brie, four leagues 
from Meaux, where she was received with great joy and 
trained up in the strictest practice of monastic perfection. 
By her perfect submission to all her sisters she seemed every 
one's servant, and acquitted herself with such great charity 
and edification that she was chosen prioress to assist the 




352 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [November 7 



abbess in her administration. About the year 646 she was 
appointed first abbess of the abbey of Chelles, which she 
governed for forty-six years with equal vigor and discre- 
tion^ until she closed her penitential life in 692. 

Reflection. — It is written that the Saints raise them- 
selves heavenward, going from virtue to virtue, as by steps. 

November 6.— ST. LEONARD. 

eonard^ one of the chief personages of the court of 
Clovis, and for whom this monarch had stood as 
sponsor in baptism, was so moved by the discourse and ex- 
ample of St. Eemigius that he relinquished the world in 
order to lead a more perfect life. The Bishop of Rheims 
having trained Leonard to virtue, he became the apostle of 
such of the Franks as still remained pagans; but fearing 
that he might be summoned to the court by his reputation 
for sanctity, he withdrew secretly to the monastery of Micy, 
near Orleans, and afterwards to the solitude of Noblac near 
Limoges. His charity not allowing him to remain inactive 
while there was so much good to be done, he undertook the 
work of comforting prisoners, making them understand 
that the captivity of sin was more terrible than any mere 
bodily constraint. He won over a great many of these 
unfortunate persons, which gained for him many disciples, 
in whose behalf he founded a new monastery. St. Leonard 
died about the year 550. 

Reflection. — " The wicked shall be taken with his own 
iniquities, and shall be held by the cords of his own sin." 

November 7.— ST. WILLIBRORD. 

illibrord was born in Northumberland in 657, and 
when twenty years old went to Ireland, to study 
under St. Egbert; twelve years later, he felt drawn to con- 
vert the great pagan tribes who were hanging as a cloud 
over the north of Europe. He went to Eome for the bless- 
ing of the Pope, and with eleven companions reached Ut- 
recht. The pagans would not accept the religion of their 





Novembeb 8] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



353 



enemies, the Franks; and St. Willibrord could only labor 
in the track of Pepin Heristal, converting the tribes whom 
Pepin subjugated. At Pepin's urgent request, he again 
went to Kome, and was consecrated Archbishop of Utrecht. 
He was stately and comely in person, frank and joyous, 
wise in counsel, pleasant in speech, in every work of God 
strenuous and unwearied. Multitudes were converted, and 
the Saint built churches and appointed priests all over the 
land. He wrought many miracles, and had the gift of 
prophecy. He labored unceasingly as bishop for more than 
fifty years, beloved alike of God and of man, and died full 
of days and good works. 

Reflection. — True zeal has its root in the love of God. 
It can never be idle; it must labor, toil, be doing great 
things. It glows as fire; it is, like fire, insatiable. See if 
this spirit be in you ! 

November 8.— THE FEAST OF THE HOLY 
RELICS. 

eROTESTANTiSM pretends to regard the veneration which 
the Church pays to the relics of the Saints as a sin, 
and contends that this pious practice is a remnant of 
paganism. The Council of Trent, on the contrary, has de- 
cided that the bodies of the martyrs and other Saints, who 
were living members of Jesus Christ and temples of the 
Holy Ghost, are to be honored by the faithful. This de- 
cision was based upon the established usage of the earliest 
days of the Church, and upon the teaching of the Fathers 
and of the Councils. The Council orders, however, that all 
abuse of this devotion is to be avoided carefully, and for- 
bids any relics to be exposed which have not been approved 
by the bishops, and these prelates are recommended to 
instruct the people faithfully in the teaching of the Church 
on this subject. While we regret, then, the errors of the 
impious and of heretics, let us profit by the advantages 
which we gain by hearkening to the voice of the Church. 



354 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [November 10 



November 9.— ST. THEODORE TYRO, Martyr. 

t. Theodore was born of a noble family in the East, 
and enrolled while still a youth in the imperial army. 
Early in 306 the emperor put forth an edict requiring 
all Christians to offer sacrifice, and Theodore had just 
joined the legion and marched with them into Pontus, 
when he had to choose between apostasy and death. He 
declared before his commander that he was ready to be cut 
in pieces and offer up every limb to his Creator, Who had 
died for him. Wishing to conquer him by gentleness, the 
commander left him in peace for a while, that he might 
think over his resolution; but Theodore used his freedom 
to set on fire the great temple of Isis, and made no secret 
of this act. Still his judge entreated him to renounce his 
faith and save his life; but Theodore made the sign of the 
cross, and answered: "As long as I have breath, I will 
confess the name of Christ." After cruel torture, the 
judge bade him think of the shame to which Christ had 
brought him. " This shame," Theodore answered, " I and 
all who invoke His name take with joy." He was con- 
demned to be burnt. As the flame rose, a Christian saw 
his soul rise like a flash of light to heaven. 

Reflection. — We are enlisted in the same service as the 
holy martyrs, and we too must have courage and con- 
stancy if we would be perfect soldiers of Jesus Christ. Let 
us take our part with them in confessing the faith of Christ 
and despising the world, that we may have our part with 
them in Christ' s kingdom. 

November 10.— ST. ANDREW AVELLINO. 

Bfter a holy youth, Lancelot Avellino was ordained 
priest at Naples. At the age of thirty-six he en- 
tered the Theatine Order, and took the name of Andrew, 
to show his love for the cross. For fifty years he was 
afflicted with a most painful rupture; yet he would never 
use a carriage. Once when he was carrying the Viaticum, 
and a storm had extinguished the lamps, a heavenly light 




November 11] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



355 



encircled him, guided his steps, and sheltered him from 
the rain. But as a rule, his sufferings were unrelieved by 
God or man. On the last day of his life, St. Andrew rose 
to say Mass. He was in his eighty-ninth year, and so weak 
that he could scarcely reach the altar. He began the 
" Judica," and fell forward in a fit of apoplexy. Laid on 
a straw mattress, his whole frame was convulsed in agony, 
while the fiend in visible form advanced to seize his soul. 
Then, as his brethren prayed and wept, the voice of Mary 
was heard, bidding the Saint's guardian angel send the 
tempter back to hell. A calm and holy smile settled on the 
features of the dying Saint, as, with a grateful salutation 
to the image of Mary, he breathed forth his soul to God. 
His death happened on the 10th of November, 1608. 

Reflection. — St. Andrew, who suffered so terrible an 
agony, is the special patron against sudden death. Ask 
him to be with you in your last hour, and to bring Jesus 
and Mary to your aid. 

November n. — ST. MARTIN OF TOURS. 

hex a mere boy, Martin became a Christian catechu- 
men against his parents' wish; and at fifteen was 
therefore seized by his father, a pagan soldier, and enrolled 
in the army. One winter's day, when stationed at Amiens, 
he met a beggar almost naked and frozen with cold. Hav- 
ing no money, he cut his cloak in two and gave him the 
half. That night he saw Our Lord clothed in the half 
cloak, and heard Him say to the angels : " Martin, yet a 
catechumen, hath wrapped Me in this garment/' This 
decided him to be baptized, and shortly after he left the 
army. He succeeded in converting his mother ; but, being 
driven from his home by the Arians, he took shelter with 
St. Hilary, and founded near Poitiers the first monastery 
in Prance. In 372 he was made Bishop of Tours. His 
flock, though Christian in name, was still pagan in heart. 
Unarmed and attended only by his monks, Martin de- 
stroyed the heathen temples and groves, and completed by 
his preaching and miracles the conversion of the people, 
whence he is known as the Apostle of Gaul. His last 




356 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [November 13 

eleven years were spent in humble toil to atone for his 
faults, while ©od made manifest by miracles the purity of 
his soul. 

Reflection. — It was for Christ crucified that St. Martin 
worked. Are you working for the same Lord? 

November 12.— ST. MARTIN, Pope. 

[t. Martiist, who occupied the Eoman See from a. d. 
649 to 655, incurred the enmity of the Byzantine 
court by his energetic opposition to the Monothelite heresy, 
and the Exarch Olympius went so far as to endeavor to 
procure the assassination of the Pope as he stood at the 
altar in the Church of St. Mary Major ; but the would-be 
murderer was miraculously struck blind, and his master 
refused to have any further hand in the matter. His suc- 
cessor had no such scruples: he seized Martin, and con- 
veyed him on board a vessel bound for Constantinople. 
After a three months' voyage the island of ISTaxos was 
reached, where the Pope was kept in confinement for a 
year, and finally in 654 brought in chains to the imperial 
city. He was then banished to the Tauric Chersonese, 
where he lingered on for four months, in sickness and 
starvation, till God released him by death on the 12th of 
November, 655. 

Reflection. — There have been times in the history of 
Christianity when its truths have seemed on the verge of 
extinction. But there is one Church whose testimony has 
never failed: it is the Church of St. Peter, the Apostolic 
and Eoman See. Put your whole trust in her teaching! 

November 13. — ST. STANISLAS KOSTKA. 

It. Stanislas was of a noble Polish family. At the 
age of fourteen he went with his elder brother Paul 
to the Jesuits' College at Vienna; and though Stanislas 
was ever bright and sweet-tempered, his austerities were 
felt as a reproach by Paul, who shamefully maltreated him. 
This ill-usage and his own penances brought on a danger- 



November 14] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



357 



ous illness, and, being in a Lutheran house, he was unable 
to send for a priest. He now remembered to have read of 
his patroness, St. Barbara, that she never permitted her 
clients to die without the Holy Viaticum : he devoutly ap- 
pealed to her aid, and she appeared with two angels, who 
gave him the Sacred Host. He was cured of this illness 
by Our Lady herself, and was bidden by her to enter the 
Society of J esus. To avoid his father's opposition, he was 
obliged to fly from Vienna; and, having proved his con- 
stancy by cheerfully performing the most menial offices, 
he was admitted to the novitiate at Eome. There he lived 
for ten short months marked by a rare piety, obedience, 
and devotion to his institute. He died, as he had prayed 
to die, on the feast of the Assumption, 1568, at the age of 
seventeen. 

Reflection. — St. Stanislas teaches us in every trial of 
life, and above all in the hour of death, to have recourse 
to our patron Saint, and to trust without fear to his aid. 

November 14.— ST. DIDACUS. 

t. Didacus was born in Spain, in the middle of the 
fifteenth century. He was remarkable from child- 
hood for his love of solitude, and when a youth retired and 
led a hermit life, occupying himself with weaving mats, 
like the fathers of the desert. Aiming at still higher per- 
fection, he entered the Order of St. Francis. His want of 
learning and his humility would not allow him to aspire 
to the priesthood, and he remained a lay-brother till his 
death, perfect in his close observance of the vows of 
poverty, chastity, and obedience, and mortifying his will 
and his senses in every way that he could contrive. At 
one time he was sent by his superiors to the Canary 
Islands, whither he went joyfully, hoping to win the crown 
of martyrdom. Such, however, was not God^s will, and 
after making many conversions by his example and holy 
words, he was recalled to Spain. There, after a long and 
painful illness, he finished his days, embracing the cross, 
which he had so dearly loved through his life. He died 
with the words of the hymn " Dulce lignum " on his lips. 




358 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [November 14 



Reflection. — If God be in your heart, He will be also on I 
your lips ; for Christ has said, " Prom the abundance of 
the heart the mouth speaketh." 

ST. LAURENCE O'TOOLE, Archbishop of Dublin. 

t. Laurence, it appears, was born about the year 1125. 
When only ten years old, his father delivered him j 
up as a hostage to Dermod Mae Murchad, King of Lein- 
ster, who treated the child with great inhumanity, until his 
father obliged the tyrant to put him in the hands of the 
Bishop of Glendalough, in the county of Wicklow. The 
holy youth, by his fidelity in corresponding with the divine 
grace, grew to be a model of virtues. On the death of the 
bishop, who was also abbot of the monastery, St. Laurence 
was chosen abbot in 1150, though but twenty-five years 
old, and governed his numerous community with wonder- j 
ful virtue and prudence. In 1161 St. Laurence was unani- | 
mously chosen to fill the new metropolitan See of Dublin. 11 
About the year 1171 he was obliged, for the affairs of his 
diocese, to go over to England to see the king, Henry IL, 
who was then at Canterbury. The Saint was received by 
the Benedictine monks of Christ Church with the greatest 
honor and respect. On the following day, as the holy 
archbishop was advancing to the altar to officiate, a maniac, 
who had heard much of his sanctity, and who was led 
on by the idea of making so holy a man another St, 
Thomas, struck him a violent blow on the head. All |J 
present concluded that he was mortally wounded; but the 
Saint coming to himself, asked for some water, blessed it, 
and having his wound washed w T ith it, the blood was im- 
mediately stanched, and the archbishop celebrated Mass. 
In 1175 Henry II. of England became offended with Eod- |J 
eric, the monarch of Ireland, and St. Laurence undertook 
another journey to England to negotiate a reconciliation 
between them. Henry was so moved by his piety, charity, 
and prudence that he granted him everything he asked, J 
and left the whole negotiation to his discretion. Our Saint 
ended his journey here below on the 14th of November, 
1180, and was buried in the church of the abbey at Eu, on 
the confines of Normandy. 




November 16] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



359 



November 15.— ST. GERTRUDE, Abbess. 

ertrude was born in the year 1263, of a noble Saxon 
family, and placed at the age of five for education 
in the Benedictine abbey of Eodelsdorf. Her strong mind 
was carefully cultivated, and she wrote Latin with unusual 
elegance and force; above all, she was perfect in humility 
and mortification, in obedience, and in all monastic observ- 
ances. Her life was crowded with wonders. She has in 
obedience recorded some of her visions, in which she traces 
in words of indescribable beauty the intimate converse of 
her soul with Jesus and Mary. She was gentle to all, most 
gentle to sinners; filled with devotion to the Saints of God, 
to the souls in purgatory, and above all to the Passion of 
Our Lord and to His Sacred Heart. She ruled her abbey 
with perfect wisdom and love for forty years. Her life 
was one of great and almost continual suffering, and her 
longing to be with Jesus was not granted till 1334, when 
she had reached her seventy-second year. 

Reflection. — No preparation for death can be better 
than to offer and resign ourselves anew to the Divine Will 
— humbly, lovingly, with unbounded confidence in the 
infinite mercy and goodness of God. 

November 16.— ST. EDMUND OF CANTERBURY. 

T. Edmund left his home at Abingdon, a boy of twelve 
years old, to study at Oxford, and there protected 
himself against many grievous temptations by a vow of 
chastity, and by espousing himself to Mary for life. He 
was soon called to active public life, and as treasurer of the 
diocese of Salisbury showed such charity to the poor that 
the dean said he was rather the treasure than the treasurer 
of their church. In 1234 he was raised to the see of Can- 
terbury, where he fearlessly defended the rights of Church 
and State against the avarice and greed of Henry III. ; but 
finding himself unable to force that monarch to relinquish 
the livings which he kept vacant for the benefit of the 
royal coffers, Edmund retired into exile sooner than appear 





360 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [November 17 



to connive at so foul a wrong. After two years spent in 
solitude and prayer, he went to his reward, and the mira- 
cles wrought at his tomb at Pontigny were so numerous 
that he was canonized in 1246, within four years of his 
death. 

Reflection. — The Saints were tempted even more than 
ourselves; but they stood where we fall, because they 
trusted to Mary, and not to themselves. 

November 17.— ST. GREGORY THAUMATUR- 

GUS. 

t. Gregory was born in Pontus, of heathen parents. 
In Palestine, about the year 231, he studied philos- 
ophy under the great Origen, who led him from the pursuit 
of human wisdom to Christ, Who is the Wisdom of God. 
jSTot long after, he was made Bishop of JSTeo Caesarea in his 
own country. As he lay awake one night an old man 
entered his room, and pointed to a lady of superhuman 
beauty, and radiant with heavenly light. This old man 
was St. John the Evangelist, and the lady told him to give 
Gregory the instruction he desired. Thereupon he gave 
St. Gregory a creed which contained in all its fulness the 
doctrine of the Trinity. St. Gregory set it in writing, 
directed all his preaching by it, and handed it down to his 
successors. Strong in this faith, he subdued demons; he 
foretold the future. At his word a rock moved from its 
place, a river changed its course, a lake was dried up. He 
converted his diocese, and strengthened those under per- 
secution. He struck down a rising heresy; and, when he 
was gone, this creed preserved his flock from the Arian 
pest. St. Gregory died in the year 270. 

Reflection. — Devotion to the blessed Mother of God is 
the sure protection of faith in her Divine Son. Every time 
that we invoke her, we renew our faith in the Incarnate 
God ; we reverse the sin and unbelief of our first parents ; 
we take our part with her who was blessed because she 
believed. 




November 19] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



361 



November 18. — ST. ODO OF CLUNY. 

On Christmas-eve, 877, a noble of Aquitaine implored 
Our Lady to grant him a son. His prayer was 
heard; Odo was born, and his grateful father offered him 
to St. Martin. Odo grew in wisdom and in virtue, and his 
father longed to see him shine at court. But the attrac- 
tion of grace was too strong. Odo's heart was sad and his 
health failed, until he forsook the world and sought refuge 
under the shadow of St. Martin at Tours. Later on he 
took the habit of St. Benedict at Baume, and was compelled 
to become abbot of the great abbey of Cluny, which was 
then building. He ruled it with the hand of a master and 
the winningness of a Saint. The Pope sent for him often 
to act as peacemaker between contending princes, and it 
was on one of those missions of mercy that he was taken 
ill at Eome. At his urgent entreaty he was borne back to 
Tours, where he died at the feet of " his own St. Martin," 
in 942. 

Reflection. — "It needs only," says Father Newman, 
" for a Catholic to show devotion to any Saint, in order to 
receive special benefits from his intercession." 

November 19. — ST. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY. 

lizabeth was daughter of a king of Hungary, and 
niece of St. Hedwige. She was betrothed in infancy 
to Louis, Landgrave of Thuringia, and brought up in his 
father's court. Not content with receiving daily numbers 
of poor in her palace, and relieving all in distress, she 
built several hospitals, where she served the sick, dress- 
ing the most repulsive sores with her own hands. Once as 
she was carrying in the folds of her mantle some provisions 
for the poor, she met her husband returning from the chase. 
Astonished to see her bending under the weight of her 
burden, he opened the mantle which she kept pressed 
against her, and found in it nothing but beautiful red and 
white roses, although it was not the season for flowers. 
Bidding her pursue her way, he took one of the marvellous 




362 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [November 20 



roses, and kept it all his life. On her husband's death she 
was cruelly driven from her palace, and forced to wander 
through the streets with her little children, a prey to hun- 
ger and cold; but she welcomed all her sufferings, and 
continued to be the mother of the poor, converting many 
by her holy life. She died in 1231, at the age of twenty- 
four. 

Reflection. — This young and delicate princess made her- 
self the servant and nurse of the poor. Let her example 
teach us to disregard the opinions of the world and to over- 
come our natural repugnances, in order to serve Christ in 
the persons of His poor. 

November 20. — ST. FELIX OF VALOIS. 

t. Felix was son of the Count of Valois. His mother 
throughout his youth did all she could to cultivate 
in him a spirit of charity. The unjust divorce between his 
parents matured a long-formed resolution of leaving the 
world; and, confiding his mother to her pious brother, 
Thibault, Count of Champagne, he took the Cistercian 
habit at Clairvaux. His rare virtues drew on him such 
admiration that, with St. Bernard's consent, he fled to 
Italy, where he led an austere life with an aged hermit. 
At this time he was ordained priest, and his old counsellor 
having died, he returned to France, and for many years 
lived as a solitary at Cerfroid. Here God inspired him 
with the desire of founding an Order for the redemption of 
Christian captives, and moved St. John of Matha, then a 
youth, to conceive a similar wish. Together they drew up 
the rules of the Order of the Holy Trinity. Many disciples 
gathered round them; and, seeing that the time had come 
for further action, the two Saints made a pilgrimage to 
Rome to obtain the confirmation of the Order from Inno- 
cent III. Their prayer was granted, and the last fifteen 
years of Felix's long life were spent in organizing and de- 
veloping his rapidly increasing foundations. He died in 
1213. 

Reflection. — " Think how much/' says St. John Chrys- 

ostom, " and how often thy mouth has sinned, and thou 




November 22] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



363 



wilt devote thyself entirely to the conversion of sinners. 
For by this one means thou wilt blot out all thy sins, in 
that thy mouth will become the mouth of God." 

November 21.— THE PRESENTATION OF THE 
BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. 

eligious parents never fail by devout prayer to conse- 
crate their children to the divine service and love, 
both before and after their birth. Some amongst the 
Jews, not content with this general consecration of their 
children, offered them to God in their infancy, by the 
hands of the priests in the Temple, to be lodged in apart- 
ments belonging to the Temple, and brought up in attend- 
ing the priests and Levites in the sacred ministry. It is 
an ancient tradition that the Blessed Virgin Mary was 
thus solemnly offered to God in the Temple in her infancy. 
This festival of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin the 
Church celebrates this day. The tender soul of Mary was 
then adorned with the most precious graces, an object of 
astonishment and praise to the angels, and of the highest 
complacence to the adorable Trinity; the Father looking 
upon her as His beloved daughter, the Son as one chosen 
and prepared to become His mother, and the Holy Ghost 
as His darling spouse. Mary was the first who set up the 
standard of virginity; and, by consecrating it by a per- 
petual vow to Our Lord, she opened the way to all virgins 
who have since followed her example. 

Reflection. — Mary's first presentation to God was an 
offering most acceptable in His sight. Let our consecra- 
tion of ourselves to God be made under her patronage, 
and assisted by her powerful intercession and the union of 
her merits. 

November 22. — ST. CECILIA, Virgin, Martyr. 

XN the evening of her wedding-day, with the music of 
the marriage-hymn ringing in her ears, Cecilia, a rich, 
beautiful, and noble Roman maiden, renewed the vow by 
which she had consecrated her virginity to God. " Pure 




364 



LIVES OF THE 8AINT8 [November 23 



be my heart and undefiled my flesh; for I have a spouse 
you know not of — an angel of my Lord/' The heart of 
her young husband Valerian was moved by her words; he 
received Baptism, and within a few days he and his brother 
Tiburtius, who had been brought by him to a knowledge 
of the Faith, sealed their confession with their blood. 
Cecilia only remained. "Do you not know/' was her 
answer to the threats of the prefect, " that I am the bride 
of my Lord Jesus Christ ? 99 The death appointed for her 
was suffocation, and she remained a day and a night in a 
hot-air bath, heated seven times its wont. But " the flames 
had no power over her body, neither was a hair of her head 
singed/' The lictor sent to dispatch her struck with trem- 
bling hand the three blows which the law allowed, and 
left her still alive. For two days and nights Cecilia lay 
with her head half severed on the pavement of her bath> 
fully sensible, and joyfully awaiting her crown; on the 
third the agony was over, and in 177 the virgin Saint 
gave back her pure spirit to Christ. 

Reflection. — St. Cecilia teaches us to rejoice in every 
sacrifice as a pledge of our love of Christ, and to welcome 
sufferings and death as hastening our union with Him. 

November 23.— ST. CLEMENT OF ROME 

T. Clement is said to have been a convert of noble 
birth, and to have been consecrated bishop by St. 
Peter himself. With the words of the apostles still ringing 
in his ears, he began to rule the Church of God ; and thus 
he was among the first, as he was among the most illus- 
trious, in the long line of those who have held the place 
and power of Peter. He lived at the same time and in the 
same city with Domitian, the persecutor of the Church; 
and besides external foes he had to contend with schism 
sand rebellion from within. The Corinthian Church was 
torn by intestine strife, and its members set the authority 
of their clergy at defiance. It was then that St. Clement 
interfered in the plenitude of his apostolic authority, and 
sent his famous epistle to the Corinthians. He urged the 
duties of charity, and above all of submission to the clergy. 




November 24] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



365 



He did not speak in vain; peace and order were restored. 
St. Clement had done his work on earth, and shortly after 
sealed with his blood the Eaith which he had learned from 
Peter and taught to the nations. 

Reflection. — God rewards a simple spirit of submission 
to the clergy, for the honor done to them is done to Him. 
Your virtue is unreal, your faith in danger, if you fail in 
this. 

November 24. — ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS. 

he father of St. John was discarded by his kindred 
for marrying a poor orphan, and the Saint, thus 
born and nurtured in poverty, chose it also for his portion. 
Unable to learn a trade, be became the servant of the 
poor in the hospital of Medina, while still pursuing his 
sacred studies. In 1563, being then twenty-one, he hum- 
bly offered himself as a lay-brother to the Carmelite friars, 
who, however, knowing his talents, had him ordained priest. 
He would now have exchanged to the severe Carthusian 
Order, had not St. Teresa, with the instinct of a Saint, 
persuaded him to remain and help her in the reform of his 
own Order. Thus he became the first prior of the Bare- 
footed Carmelites. His reform, though approved by the 
general, was rejected by the elder friars, who condemned 
the Saint as a fugitive and apostate, and cast him into 
prison, whence he only escaped, after nine months' suffer- 
ing, at the risk of his life. Twice again, before his death, 
he was shamefully persecuted by his brethren, and publicly 
disgraced. But his complete abandonment by creatures 
only deepened his interior peace and devout longing for 
heaven. 

Reflection. — " Live in the world," said ,St. John, " as if 
God and your soul only were in it; so shall your heart be 
never made captive by any earthly thing." 




366 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [November 26 



November 25.— ST. CATHERINE OF ALEX- 
ANDRIA. 

Gathekine was a noble virgin of Alexandria. Before 
her Baptism, it is said, she saw in vision the Blessed 
Virgin ask her Son to receive her among His servants, but 
the Divine Infant turned away. After Baptism, Catherine 
saw the same vision, when Jesus Christ received her with 
great affection, and espoused her before the court of 
heaven. When the impious tyrant Maximin II. came to 
Alexandria, fascinated by the wisdom, beauty and wealth 
of the Saint, he in vain urged his suit. At last in his rage 
and disappointment he ordered her to be stripped and 
scourged. She fled to the Arabian mountains, where the 
soldiers overtook her, and after many torments put her to 
death. Her body was laid on Mount Sinai, and a beau- 
tiful legend relates that Catherine having prayed that no 
man might see or touch her body after death, angels bore 
it to the grave. 

Reflection. — The constancy displayed by the Saints in 
their glorious martyrdom cannot be isolated from their 
previous lives, but is their natural sequence. If we wish 
to emulate their perseverance, let us first imitate their 
fidelity to grace. 

November 26. — ST. PETER OF ALEXANDRIA, 
Bishop, Martyr. 

t. Peter governed the Church of Alexandria during 
the persecution of Diocletian. The sentence of ex- 
communication that he was the first to pronounce against 
the schismatics, Melitius and Arius, and which, despite the 
united efforts of powerful partisans, he strenuously upheld, 
proves that he possessed as much sagacity as zeal and firm- 
ness. But his most constant care was employed in guard- 
ing his flocks from the dangers arising out of persecution. 
He never ceased repeating to them that, in order not to 
fear death, it was needful to begin by dying to self, re- 
nouncing our will, and detaching ourselves from all things. 




November 28] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



367 



St. Peter gave an example of such detachment by under- 
going martyrdom in the year 311. 

Reflection. — " How hardly shall they that have riches 
enter into the kingdom of God ! " says Our Saviour ; be- 
cause they are bound to earth by the strong ties of their 
riches. 



November 27.— ST. MAXIMUS, Bishop. 

/S5t. Maximus, abbot of Lerins, in succession to St. 
KlJ Honoratus, was remarkable not only for the spirit 
of recollection, fervor, and piety familiar to him from very 
childhood, but still more for the gentleness and kindliness 
with which he governed the monastery which at that time 
contained many religious, and was famous for the learning 
and piety of its brethren. Exhibiting in his own person 
an example of the most sterling virtues, his exhortations 
could not fail to prove all-persuasive: loving all his relig- 
ious,, whom it was his delight to consider as one family, he 
established amongst them that sweet concord, union, and 
holy emulation for well-doing which render the exercise of 
authority needless, and makes submission a pleasure. The 
clergy and people of Prejus, moved by such a shining ex- 
ample, elected Maximus for their bishop, but he took to 
flight; subsequently he was compelled, however, to accept 
the see of Eiez, where he practised virtue in all gentleness, 
and died in 460, regretted as the best of fathers. 

Reflection. — " Masters, do to your servants that which 
is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in 
heaven." 



November 28. — ST. JAMES OF LA MARCA OF 
ANCONA. 

he small town of Montbrandon, in the Marca of An- 
cona, gave birth to this Saint. When young he was 
sent to the University of Perugia, where his progress in 
learning soon qualified him to be chosen preceptor to a 




368 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [November 29 



young gentleman of Florence. Fearing that he might be 
ingulfed in the whirlpool of world excesses, St. James 
applied himself to prayer and recollection. When travel- 
ling near Assisium he went into the great Church of the 
Portiuncula to pray, and being animated by the fervor of 
the holy men who there served God, and by the example of 
their blessed founder St. Francis, he determined to petition 
in that very place for the habit of the Order. He began 
his spiritual war against the devil, the world, and the flesh, 
with assiduous prayer and extraordinary fasts and watch- 
ings. For forty years he never passed a day without tak- 
ing the discipline. Being chosen Archbishop of Milan, 
he fled, and could not be prevailed on to accept the office. 
He wrought several miracles at Venice and at other places, 
and raised from dangerous sicknesses the Duke of Calabria 
and the King of Naples. The Saint died in the convent of 
the Holy Trinity of his Order, near Naples, on the 28th of 
November, in the year 1476, being ninety years old, seventy 
of which he had spent in a religious state. 



November 29. — ST. SATURNINUS, Martyr. 

ATURNiisrus went from Eome, by direction of Pope 
Fabian, about the year 245, to preach the faith in 
Gaul. He fixed his episcopal see at Toulouse, and thus 
.became the first Christian bishop of that city. There 
were but few Christians in the place. However, their num- 
ber grew fast after the coming of the Saint ; and his power 
was felt by the spirits of evil, who received the worship of 
the heathen. His power was felt the more because he had 
to pass daily through the capitol, the high place of the 
heathen worship, on the way to his own church. One day 
a great multitude was gathered by an altar, where a bull 
stood ready for the sacrifice. A man in the crowd pointed 
out Saturninus, who was passing by, and the people would 
have forced him to idolatry ; but the holy bishop answered : 
" I know but one God, and to Him I will offer the sacrifice 
of praise. How can I fear gods who, as you say, are afraid 
of me ? " On this he was fastened to the bull, which was 
driven down the capitol. The brains of the Saint were 




November 30] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



369 



scattered on the steps. His mangled body was taken up 
and buried by two devout women. 

Reflection. — When beset by the temptations of the devil, 
let us call upon the Saints, who reign with Christ. They 
were powerful during their lives against the devil and his 
angels. They are more powerful now that they have 
passed from the Church on earth to the Church trium- 
phant. 

November 30.—ST. ANDREW, Apostle. 

t. Andrew was one of the fishermen of Bethsaida, 
and brother, perhaps elder brother, of St. Peter, and 
became a disciple of St. John Baptist. He seemed always 
eager to bring others into notice; when called himself by 
Christ on the banks of the Jordan, his first thought was 
to go in search of his brother, and he said, " We have found 
the Messias," and he brought him to Jesus. It was he 
again who, when Christ wished to feed the five thousand in 
the desert, pointed out the little lad with the five loaves 
and fishes. St. Andrew went forth upon his mission to 
plant the Faith in Scythia and Greece, and at the end of 
years of toil to win a martyr's crown. After suffering a 
cruel scourging at Patrse in Achaia, he was left, bound by 
cords, to die upon a cross. When St. Andrew first caught 
sight of the gibbet on which he was to die, he greeted the 
precious wood with joy. " 0 good cross ! 99 he cried, " made 
beautiful by the limbs of Christ, so long desired, now so 
happily found ! Receive me into thy arms and present me 
to my Master, that He Who redeemed me through thee 
may now accept me from thee/' Two whole days the 
martyr remained hanging on this cross alive, preaching, 
with outstretched arms from this chair of truth, to all who 
came near, and entreating them not to hinder his passion. 

Reflection. — If we would do good to others, we must, 
like St. Andrew, keep close to the cross. 




370 LIVES OF THE SAINTS [December 2 



December i. — ST. ELIGIUS. 

ligius, a goldsmith at Paris, was commissioned by- 
King Clotaire to make a throne. With the gold and 
precious stones given him he made two. Struck by his 
rare honesty, the king gave him an appointment at court, 
and demanded an oath of fidelity sworn upon holy relics; 
but Eligius prayed with tears to be excused, for fear of 
failing in reverence to the relics of the Saints. On en- 
tering the court he fortified himself against its seductions 
by many austerities and continual ejaculatory prayers. He 
had a marvellous zeal for the redemption of captives, and 
for their deliverance would sell his jewels, his food, his 
clothes, and his very shoes, once by his prayers breaking 
their chains and opening their prisons. His great delight 
was in making rich shrines for relics. His striking virtue 
caused him, a layman and a goldsmith, to be made Bishop 
of Noyon, and his sanctity in this holy office was remark- 
able. He possessed the gifts of miracles and prophecy, 
and died in 665. 

Reflection. — When God called His Saints to Himself, 
He might, had He so pleased, have taken their bodies also ; 
but He willed to leave them in our charge, for our help and 
consolation. Be careful to imitate St. Eligius in making a 

good use of so great a treasure. 

December 2.— ST. BIBIANA, Virgin, Martyr. 

t. Bibiana was a native of Borne. Flavian, her father, 
was apprehended, burned in the face with a hot iron, 
and banished to Acquapendente, where he died of his 
wounds a few days after; and her mother, Dafrosa, was 
some time after beheaded. Bibiana and her sister De- 
metria, after the death of their parents, were stripped of 
all they had in the world and suffered much from poverty. 
Apronianus, Governor of Eome, summoned them to appear 
before him. Demetria, having made confession of her 
faith, fell down and expired at the foot of the tribunal, in 
the presence of the judge. Apronianus gave orders that 





December 3] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



371 



Bibiana should be put into the hands of a wicked woman 
named Kufina, who was to bring her to another way of 
thinking; but Bibiana, making prayer her shield, remained 
invincible. Apronianus, enraged at the courage and per- 
severance of a tender virgin, ordered her to be tied to a 
pillar and whipped with scourges loaded with leaden plum- 
mets till she expired. The Saint underwent this punish- 
ment cheerfully, and died in the hands of the executioners. 

Reflection. — Pray for a fidelity and patience like Bibi- 
ana's under all trials, that neither convenience nor any 
worldly advantage may ever prevail upon you to transgress 
your duty. 

December 3. — ST. FRANCIS XAVIER. 

a young Spanish gentleman, in the dangerous days of 
the Eeformation, was making a name for himself 
as a Professor of Philosophy in the University of Paris, 
and had seemingly no higher aim, when St. Ignatius of 
Loyola won him to heavenly thoughts. After a brief apos- 
tolate amongst his countrymen in Eome he was sent by 
St. Ignatius to the Indies, where for twelve years he was 
to wear himself out, bearing the Gospel to Hindostan, to 
Malacca, and to Japan. Thwarted b} r the jealousy, covet- 
ousness, and carelessness of those who should have helped 
and encouraged him, neither their opposition nor the diffi- 
culties of every sort which he encountered could make him 
slacken his labors for souls. The vast kingdom of China 
appealed to his charity, and he was resolved to risk his life 
to force an entry, when God took him to Himself, and on 
the 2d of December, 1552, he died, like Moses, in sight of 
the land of promise. 

Reflection. — Some are specially called to work for souls ; 
but there is no one who cannot help much in their salva- 
tion. Holy example, earnest intercession, the offerings of 
our actions in their behalf — all this needs only the spirit 
which animated St. Francis Xavier, the desire to make 
some return to God. 



372 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [December 5 



December 4.— ST. BARBARA, Virgin, Martyr. 

jTSSfT. Barbara was brought up a heathen. A tyrannical 
TSZJ father, Dioscorus, had kept her jealously secluded in 
a lonely tower which he had built for the purpose. Here 
in her forced solitude, she gave herself to prayer and study, 
and contrived to receive instruction and Baptism by stealth 
from a Christian priest. Dioscorus, on discovering his 
daughter's conversion, was beside himself with rage. He 
himself denounced her before the civil tribunal. Barbara 
was horribly tortured, and at last was beheaded, her own 
father, merciless to the last, acting as her executioner. 
God, however, speedily punished her persecutors. While 
her soul was being borne by angels to Paradise, a flash of 
lightning struck Dioscorus, and he was hurried before the 
judgment-seat of God. 

Reflection. — Pray often against a sudden and unpro- 
vided death ; and, above all, that you may be strengthened 
by the Holy Viaticum against the dangers of your last hour. 



December 5. — ST. SABAS, Abbot. 

t. Sabas, one of the most renowned patriarchs of the 
monks of Palestine, was born in the year 439, near 
Csesarea. In order to settle a dispute which had arisen 
between some of his relatives in regard to the administra- 
tion of his estate, while still young he forsook the world 
and entered a monastery, wherein he became a model of 
fervor. When Sabas had been ten years in this monastery, 
being eighteen years old, he went to Jerusalem to visit 
the holy places, and attached himself to a monastery then 
under control of St. Buthymius; but on the death of the 
holy abbot our Saint sought the wilderness, where he chose 
his dwelling in a cave on the top of a high mountain, at 
the bottom of which ran the brook Cedron. After he had 
lived here five years, several came to him, desiring to serve 
God under his direction. He was at first unwilling to 
consent, but finally founded a new monastery of persons 
all desirous to devote themselves to praise and serve God 




December 6] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



373 



without interruption. His great sanctity becoming 
known, lie was ordained priest, at the age of fifty-three, by 
the patriarch of Jerusalem, and made Superior-Greneral of 
all the anchorites of Palestine. He lived to be ninety-four, 
and died on the 5th of December, 532. 

December 6.— ST. NICHOLAS OF BARI. 

(TS5(t. Nicholas, the patron Saint of Kussia, was born 
TSlJ toward the end of the third century. His uncle, 
the Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, ordained him priest, and 
appointed him abbot of a monastery; and on the death of 
the archbishop he was elected to the vacant see. Through- 
out his life he retained the bright and guileless manners of 
his early years, and showed himself the special protector 
of the innocent and the wronged. Nicholas once heard 
that a person who had fallen into poverty intended to 
abandon his three daughters to a life of sin. Determined, 
if possible, to save their innocence, the .Saint went out by 
night, and, taking with him a bag of gold, flung it into the 
window of the sleeping father and hurried off. He, on 
awaking, deemed the gift a godsend, and with it dowered 
his eldest child. The Saint, overjoyed at his success, made 
like venture for the second daughter; but the third time 
as he stole away, the father, who was watching, overtook 
him and kissed his feet, saying : " Nicholas, why dost thou 
conceal thyself from me? Thou art my helper, and he 
who has delivered my soul and my daughters' from hell." 
St. Nicholas is usuaUy represented b}^ the side of a vessel, 
wherein a certain man had concealed the bodies of his 
three children whom he had killed, but who were restored 
to life by the Saint. He died in 342. His relics were 
translated in 1807, to Bari, Italy, and there, after fifteen 
centuries, " the manna of St. Nicholas 99 still flows from his 
bones and heals all kinds of sick. 

Reflection. — Those who would enter heaven must be as 
little children, whose greatest glory is their innocence. 
Now. two things are ours to do : first, to preserve it in 
ourselves, or regain it by penance; secondly, to love and 
shield it in others. 



374 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [December 8 



December 7.— ST. AMBROSE, Bishop. 

Hmbrose was of a noble family, and was governor of 
Milan in 374, when a bishop was to be chosen for 
that great see. As the Arian heretics were many and 
fierce, he was present to preserve order during the election. 
Though only a catechumen, it was the will of God that he 
should himself be chosen by acclamation; and, in spite of 
his utmost resistance, he was baptized and consecrated, 
He was unwearied in every duty of a pastor, full of sym- 
pathy and charit}^, gentle and condescending in things in- 
different, but inflexible in matters of principle. He showed 
his fearless zeal in braving the anger of the Empress Jus- 
tina, by resisting and foiling her impious attempt to give 
one of the churches of Milan to the Arians, and by rebuk- 
ing and leading to penance the really great Emperor Theo- 
dosius, who in a moment of irritation had punished most 
cruelly a sedition of the inhabitants of Thessalonica. He 
was the friend and consoler of St. Monica in all her sor- 
rows, and in 387 he had the joy of admitting to the Church 
her son, St. Augustine. St. Ambrose died in 397, full 
of years and of honors, and is revered by the Church of 
God as one of her greatest doctors. 

Reflection. — Whence came to St. Ambrose his grandeur 
of mind, his clearness of insight, his intrepidity in main- 
taining the faith and discipline of the Church? Whence 
but from his contempt of the world, from his fearing God 
alone ? 

December 8.— THE FEAST OF THE IMMACU- 
LATE CONCEPTION. 

ON" this day, so dear to every Catholic heart, we cele- 
brate, in the first place, the moment in which Al- 
mighty God showed Mary, through the distance of ages, to 
our first parents as the Virgin Mother of the divine Ee- 
deemer, the woman destined to crush the head of the ser- 
pent. And as by eternal decree she was miraculously 
exempt from all stain of original sin, and endowed with 



December 9] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



375 



the richest treasures of grace and sanctity, it is meet that 
we should honor her glorious prerogatives by this special 
feast of the Immaculate Conception. We should join in 
spirit with the blessed in heaven, and rejoice with our dear 
Mother, not only for her own sake, but for ours, her chil- 
dren, who are partakers of her glory and happiness. 
Secondly, we are called upon to celebrate that ever-memor- 
able day, the 8th of December, 1854, which raised the Im- 
maculate Conception of Our Blessed Lady from a pious 
belief to the dignity of a dogma of the Infallible Church, 
causing universal joy among the faithful. 

Reflection. — Let us repeat frequently these words ap- 
plied by the Church to the Blessed Virgin : " Thou art all 
fair, 0 Mary! and there is not a spot in thee" (Cant, 
iv. 7). 

December 9.— ST. LEOCADIA, Virgin, Martyr. 

@t. Leocadia was a native of Toledo, and was appre- 
hended by an order of Dacian, the cruel governor 
under Diocletian in 304. Hearing of the martyrdom of St. 
Eulalia, she prayed that God would not prolong her exile, 
but unite her speedily with her holy friend in His glory. 
Her prayer was heard, and she happily expired in prison. 
Three famous churches in Toledo bear her name, and she is 
honored as principal patroness of that city. In one of 
those churches most of the councils of Toledo were held. 
Her relics were kept in that church with great respect, till, 
in the incursions of the Moors, they were conveyed to 
Oviedo, and some years afterward to the abbey of St. Guis- 
lain, near Mons in Hainault. They were finally carried 
back to Toledo with great pomp, and placed in the great 
church there on the 26th of April, 1589. 

Reflection. — Were we not blinded by the world and the 
enchantment of its follies, the near prospect of eternity, the 
uncertainty of the hour of our death, and the repeated 
precepts of Christ would produce in us the same fervent 
dispositions which they did in the primitive Christians. 



376 



LIVE 8 OF THE SAINTS [December 11 



December io.— ST. EULALIA, Virgin, Martyr, 

t. Eulalia was a native of Merida, in Spain. She 
was but twelve years old when the bloody edicts of 
Diocletian were issued. Eulalia presented herself before 
the cruel judge Daeianus, and reproached him for attempt- 
ing to destroy souls by compelling them to renounce the 
only true God. The governor commanded her to be seized, 
and at first tried to win her over by flattery, but failing in 
this, he had recourse to threats, and caused the most dread- 
ful instruments of torture to be placed before her eyes, say- 
ing to her : " All this you shall escape if you will but touch 
a little salt and frankincense with the tip of your finger." 
Provoked at these seducing flatteries, our Saint threw down 
the idol, and trampled upon the cake which was laid for the 
sacrifice. At the judge's order, two executioners tore her 
tender sides with iron hooks, so as to leave the very bones 
bare. Next lighted torches were applied to her breasts and 
sides ; under which torment, instead of groans, nothing was 
heard from her mouth but thanksgivings. The fire at 
length catching her hair, surrounded her head and face, 
and the Saint was stifled by the smoke and flame. 

Reflection. — The apostles rejoiced "that they were ac- 
counted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of J esus." 
Do we bear our crosses with the same spirit ? 

December n.— ST. DAM ASUS, Pope. 

t. Damasus was born at Eome at the beginning of the 
fourth century. He was archdeacon of the Eoman 
Church in 355, when Pope Liber ius was banished to Berda, 
and followed him into exile, but afterward returned to 
Eome. On the death of Liberius our Saint was chosen to 
succeed him. Ursinus, a competitor for the high office, 
incited a revolt, but the holy Pope took only such action 
as was becoming to the common father of the faithful. 
Having freed the Church of this new schism, he turned 
his attention to the extirpation of Arianism in the West 
and of Apollinarianism in the East, and for this purpose 





December 12] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



377 



he convened several councils. He rebuilt the church of St. 
Laurence, which to this day is known as St. Laurence in 
Damaso; he made many valuable presents to this church, 
and settled upon it houses and lands in its vicinity. He 
likewise drained all the springs of the Vatican, which ran 
over the bodies that were buried there, and decorated the 
sepulchres of a great number of martyrs in the cemeteries, 
and adorned them with epitaphs in verse. Having sat 
eighteen years and two months, he died on the 10th of 
December, in 384, being near fourscore years of age. 

December 12.— ST. VALERY, Abbot— ST. FINIAN, 

Bishop. 

his Saint was born at Auvergne, in the sixth century, 
and in his childhood kept his father's sheep. He 
was yet young when he took the monastic habit in the 
neighboring monastery of St. Antony. .Seeking the most 
perfect means of advancing in the paths of all virtues, he 
passed from this house to the more austere monastery of 
St. Germanus of Auxerre, and finally to that of Luxeuil, 
where he spent many years. He travelled into Keustria, 
where he converted many infidels, and assembled certain 
fervent disciples, and laid the foundation of a monastery. 
Saint Yalery went to receive the recompense of his happy 
perseverance on the 12th of December in 622. 

St. Pinian was a native of Leinster, was instructed in 
the elements of Christian virtue by the disciples of St. 
Patrick, and passed over into Wales; but about the year 
520 he returned into Ireland. To propagate the work of 
God, our Saint established several monasteries and schools. 
St. Finian was chosen and consecrated Bishop of Clonard. 
In the love of his flock and his zeal for their salvation he 
was infirm with the infirm, and wept with those that wept. 
He healed the souls, and often also the bodies, of those 
that applied to him. He departed to Our Lord on the 12th 
of December in 552. 




378 LIVES OF TEE SAINTS [December 14 



December 13.— ST. LUCY, Virgin, Martyr. 

^\he mother of St. Lucy suffered four years from an 
%*J issue of blood, and the help of man failed. St. Lucy 
reminded her mother that a woman in the Gospel had been 
healed of the same disorder. " St. Agatha/' she said, 
" stands ever in the sight of Him for Whom she died. 
Only touch her sepulchre with faith, and you will be 
healed." They spent the night praying by the tomb, till, 
overcome by weariness, both fell asleep. St. Agatha ap- 
peared in vision to St. Lucy, and calling her sister, fore- 
told her mother's recovery and her own martyrdom. That 
instant the cure was affected; and in her gratitude the 
mother allowed her daughter to distribute her wealth 
among the poor, and consecrate her virginity to Christ. 
A young man to whom she had been promised in marriage 
accused her as a Christian to the heathen; but Our Lord, 
by a special miracle, saved from outrage this virgin whom 
He had chosen for His own. The fire kindled around her 
did her no hurt. Then the sword was plunged into her 
heart, and the promise made at the tomb of St. Agatha 
was fulfilled. 

Reflection. — The Saints had to bear sufferings and 

temptations greater far than yours. How did they over- 1 
come them? By the love of Christ. Nourish this pure 
love by meditating on the mysteries of Christ's life; and, j 
above all, by devotion to the Holy Eucharist, which is the 
antidote against sin and the pledge of eternal life. 

December 14. — ST. NICASIUS, Archbishop, and his J 
Companions, Martyrs. 

the fifth century an army of barbarians from Ger- 
many ravaging part of Gaul, plundered the city of 
Eheims. Ficasius, the holy bishop, had foretold this ca- 
lamity to his flock. When he saw the enemy at the gates 
and in the streets, forgetting himself, and solicitous only 
for his spiritual children, he went from door to door en- 
couraging all to patience and constancy, and awaking in 



December 15] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



379 



every breast the most heroic sentiments of piety and re- 
ligion. In endeavoring to save the lives of his flock he 
exposed himself to the swords of the infidels, who, after a 
thousand insults and indignities, cut off his head. Florens, 
his deacon, and Jocond, his lector, were massacred by his 
side. His sister Eutropia, a virtuous virgin, fearing she 
might be reserved for a fate worse than death, boldly cried 
out to the infidels that it was her unalterable resolution 
rather to sacrifice her life than her faith or her integrity 
and virtue. Upon which they despatched her with their 
cutlasses. 

Reflection. — Bear patiently and sweetly bodily suffer- 
ings, and prepare for the day of trial by the courageous 
endurance of the daily crosses incident to your state. 



December 15. — ST. MESMIN. 

t. Mesmin was a native of Verdun. The inhabitants 
of that place having proved disloyal to King Clovis, 
an uncle of our Saint's, a priest named Euspice, brought 
about a reconciliation between the monarch and his sub- 
jects. Clovis, appreciating the virtues of Euspice, per- 
suaded him to take up his residence at court, and the 
servant of God took St. Mesmin along with him. While 
journeying to Orleans with Clovis he noticed at about two 
leagues from the city, beyond the Loire, a solitary spot 
called Micy, which he thought well suited for a retreat. 
Having asked for and obtained the place, he with Mesmin 
and several disciples built there a monastery, of which he 
took charge. At his death, which happened about two 
years after, our Saint was appointed abbot by Eusebius, 
Bishop of Orleans. During a terrible famine he fed nearly 
the whole city of Orleans with wheat from his monastery, 
without perceptibly reducing it; he also drove an enor- 
mous serpent out of the place in which he was afterwards 
buried. Having governed his monastery ten years, he 
died as he had lived, in the odor of sanctity, on the loth 
of December, 520. 




380 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [December 17 



Reflection. — Few are called to serve God by great 
actions, but all are bound to strive after perfection in the 
ordinary actions of their daily life. 



December 16.— ST. EUSEBIUS, Bishop. 

T. Eusebius was born of a noble family, in the island 
of Sardinia, where his father is said to have died in 
prison for the Faith. The Saint's mother carried him and 
his sister, both infants, to Rome. Eusebius having been 
ordained, served the Church of Vercelli with such zeal that 
on the episcopal chair becoming vacant he was unani- 
mously chosen, by both clergy and people, to fill it. The 
holy bishop saw that the best and first means to labor 
effectually for the edification and sanctification of his 
people was to have a zealous clergy. He was at the same 
time very careful to instruct his flock, and inspire them 
with the maxims of the Gospel. The force of the truth 
which he preached, together with his example, brought 
many sinners to a change of life. He courageously fought 
against the heretics, who had him banished to Scythopolis, 
and thence to Upper Thebais in Egypt, where he suffered 
so grievously as to win, in some of the panegyrics in his 
praise, the title of martyr. He died in the latter part of 
the year 371. 

Reflection. — The routine of every-day, commonplace 
duties is no hindrance to a free intimacy with God. He 
will disclose His hidden ways to you in proportion as you 
follow your vocation faithfully, whether in the world or 
the cloister. 

December 17. — ST. OLYMPIAS, Widow. 

t. Olympias, the glory of the widows in the Eastern 
Church, was of a noble and wealthy family. Left 
an orphan at a tender age, she was brought up by Theo- 
dosia, sister of St. Amphiloehius, a virtuous and prudent 
woman. Olympias insensibly reflected the virtues of this 
estimable woman. She married quite young, but her hus- 





Decembeb 18] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



381 



band dying within twenty days of their wedding, she 
modestly declined any further offer for her hand, and 
resolved to consecrate her life to prayer and other good 
works, and to devote her fortune to the poor* JSTectarius, 
Archbishop of Constantinople, had a high esteem for the 
saintly widow, and made her a deaconess of his church, the 
duties of which were to prepare the altar linen and to 
attend to other matters of that sort. St. Chrysostom, who 
succeeded ISTectarius, had no less respect than his prede- 
cessor for Olympias, but refused to attend to the distribu- 
tion of her alms. Our Saint was one of the last to leave 
St. Chrysostom when he went into banishment on the 20th 
of June, 404. After his departure she suffered great per- 
secution, and crowned a virtuous life by a saintly death, 
about the year 410. 

Reflection. — "Lay not up to yourselves treasures on 
earth, but in heaven, where neither rust nor moth doth 
consume." 



December 18.— ST. GATIAN, Bishop. 

@t. Gatian came from Rome with St. Dionysius of 
Paris, about the middle of the third century, and 
preached the Faith principally at Tours in Gaul, where he 
fixed his episcopal see. The Gauls in that part were ex- 
tremely addicted to the worship of their idols. But no 
contradictions or sufferings were able to discourage or 
daunt this true apostle, and by perseverance he gained 
several to Christ. He assembled his little flock in grots 
and caves, and there celebrated the divine mysteries. He 
was obliged often to lie hid in lurking holes a long time 
in order to escape a cruel death, with which the heathens 
frequently threatened him, and which he was ^always 
ready to receive with joy if he had fallen into their 
hands. Having continued his labors with unwearied zeal 
amidst frequent sufferings and dangers for near the space 
of fifty years, he died in peace, and was honored with 
miracles. 

Reflection. — God does not ask great sacrifices from all; 
but in His goodness He gives us all some things to re- 



382 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [December 20 



nounee or to suffer for Him, and it is by our loving sub- 
mission to His will that we show ourselves to be Christians. 

December 19. — ST. NEMESION, Martyr. 

Xn the persecution of Deems, Nemesion, an Egyptian, 
was apprehended at Alexandria upon an indictment 
for theft. The servant of Christ easily cleared himself of 
that charge, but was immediately accused of being a Chris- 
tian, and after being scourged and tormented more than 
the thieves, was condemned to be burnt with the robbers 
and other malefactors. There stood at the same time near 
the prefect's tribunal four soldiers and another person, 
who, being Christians, boldly encouraged a confessor who 
was hanging on the rack. They were taken before the 
judge, who condemned them to be beheaded, but was as- 
tonished to see the joy with which they walked to the place 
of execution. Heron, Ater, and Isidore, all Egyptians, 
with Dioscorus, a youth only fifteen years old, were com- 
mitted at Alexandria in the same persecution. After en- 
during the most cruel rending and disjointing of their 
limbs, they were burnt alive, with the exception of Dios- 
corus, whom the judge discharged on account of the ten- 
derness of his years. 

Reflection. — Can we call to mind the fervor of the 
Saints in laboring and suffering cheerfully for Grod, and 
not feel a holy ardor glow in our own breasts, and our souls 
strongly affected with their heroic sentiments of virtue ? 

December 20.— ST. PHILOGONIUS, Bishop. 

t. PhilogojSTius was educated for the law, and ap- 
peared at the bar with great success. He was ad- 
mired for his eloquence, but still more for his integrity and 
the sanctity of his life. This was considered a sufficient 
motive for dispensing with the canons, which require some 
time spent among the clergy before a person be advanced 
to the highest station in the Church. Philogonius was 
placed in the see of Antioch, upon the death of Vitalis in 




December 21] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



383 



318. When Arms broached his blasphemies at Alexandria 
in 318, St. Alexander condemned him, and sent the sen- 
tence in a synodal letter to St. Philogonius, who strenu- 
ously defended the Catholic faith before the assembly of 
the Council of Nice. In the storms which were raised 
against the Church, first by Maximin II. and afterward by 
Licinius, St. Philogonius deserved the title of Confessor; 
he died in the year 322, the fifth of his episcopal dignity. 

Reflection. — St. tPhilogonius had so perfectly renounced 
the world, and crucified its inordinate desires in his heart, 
that he received in this life the earnest of Christ' s Spirit, 
was admitted to the sacred council of the heavenly King, 
and had free access to the Almighty. A soul must here 
learn the heavenly spirit, and be well versed in the occupa- 
tions of the blessed, that hopes to reign with them here- 
after. 

December 21. — ST. THOMAS, Apostle. 

t. Thomas was one of the fishermen on the Lake of 
Galilee whom Our Lord called to be His apostles. 
By nature slow to believe, too apt to see difficulties, and to 
look at the dark side of things, he had withal a most sym- 
pathetic, loving, and courageous heart. Once when Jesus 
spoke of the mansions in His Father's house, St. Thomas, 
in his simplicity, asked: "Lord, we know not whither 
Thou goest, and how can we know the way ? 99 When J esus 
turned to go toward Bethany to the grave of Lazarus, the 
desponding apostle at once feared the worst for his beloved 
Lord, yet cried out bravely to the rest: "Let us also go 
and die with Him." After the Eesurrection, incredulity 
again prevailed, and whilst the wounds of the crucifixion 
were imprinted vividly on his affectionate mind, he would 
not credit the report that Christ had indeed risen. But at 
the actual sight of the pierced hands and side, and the 
gentle rebuke of his Saviour, unbelief was gone forever; 
and his faith and ours has ever triumphed in the joyous 
utterance into which he broke : " My Lord and my God ! 79 

Reflection. — Cast away all disquieting doubts, and learn 
to triumph over old weaknesses as St. Thomas did, who 




384 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [December 23 



"by his ignorance hath instructed the ignorant, and by 
his incredulity hath served for the faith of all ages." 

December 22.— ST* ISCHYRION, Martyr. 

XsCHYRioisr was an inferior officer who attended on a 
magistrate of a certain city in Egypt. His master 
commanded him to offer sacrifice to the idols ; and because 
he refused to commit that sacrilege, reproached him with 
the most abusive and threatening speeches. By giving way 
to passion and superstition, the officer at length worked 
himself up to such a degree of frenzy as to run a stake 
into the bowels of the meek servant of Christ, who, by his 
patient constancy, attained to the glory of martyrdom. 

Reflection. — It is not a man's condition, but virtue, that 
can make him truly great or truly happy. How mean 
soever a person's station or circumstances may be, the road 
to both is open to him ; and there is not a servant or slave 
who ought not to be enkindled with a laudable ambition of 
arriving at this greatness, which will set him on the same 
level with the rich and the most powerful. 

December 23. — ST. SERVULUS. 

ervulus was a beggar, and had been so afflicted with 
palsy from his infancy that he was never able to 
stand, sit upright, lift his hand to his mouth, or turn him- 
self from one side to another. His mother and brother 
carried him into the porch of St. Clement's Church at 
Rome, where he lived on the alms of those that passed by. 
He used to entreat devout persons to read the Holy Scrip- 
tures to him, which he heard with such attention as to 
learn them by heart. His time he consecrated by assidu- 
ously singing hymns of praise and thanksgiving to God. 
After several years thus spent, his distemper having seized 
his vitals, he felt his end was drawing nigh. In his last 
moments he desired the poor and pilgrims, who had often 
shared in his charity, to sing sacred hymns and psalms for 
him. While he joined his voice with theirs, he on a sud- 




December 24] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



385 



den cried out : " Silence ! do yon not hear the sweet mel- 
ody and praise which resound in the heavens ? " Soon after 
he spoke these words he expired, and his soul was carried 
by angels into everlasting bliss, about the year 590. 

Reflection. — The whole behaviour of this poor sick beg- 
gar loudly condemns those who, when blessed with good 
health and a plentiful fortune, neither do good works nor 
suffer the least cross with tolerable patience. 

December 24. — ST. DELPHINUS, Bishop.— STS. 
THRASILLA and EMILIANA, Virgins. 

ittle is known of St. Delphinus before his elevation 
to the episcopate. He assisted at the Council of 
Saragossa, in 330, in which the Prisciliianists were con- 
demned, and also at the Council of Bordeaux, which con- 
demned the same schismatics. He baptized St. Paulerius 
in 388, and the latter, in several letters, speaks of him as 
his father and his master. St. Delphinus died on the 24th 
of December, 403. 

Sts. Thrasilla and Emiliana were aunts of St. Greg- 
ory the Great. They lived in their father's house as retired 
as in a monastery, far removed from the conversation of 
men ; and, exciting one another to virtue by discourse and 
example, soon made considerable progress in spiritual life. 
Thrasilla was favored one night with a vision of her uncle, 
St. Felix, Pope, who showed her a seat prepared for her in 
heaven, saying : " Come ; I will receive you into this habi- 
tation of light." She fell sick of a fever the next day. 
When in her agony, with her eyes fixed on heaven, she 
cried out to those that were present: "Depart! make 
room! Jesus is coming." Soon after these words she 
breathed out her pious soul into the hands of God on the 
24th of December. A few days after she appeared to her 
sister Emiliana, and invited her to celebrate with her the 
Epiphany in eternal bliss. Emiliana fell sick, and died on 
the 8th of January. 

Reflection. — We may often think the austerities of the 
Saints are beyond our strength; let us, then, imitate the 




886 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [December 25 



guard they kept over their tongue. This is within the 
reach of all. 

December 25.— THE NATIVITY OF CHRIST, OR 
CHRISTMAS DAY. 

he world had subsisted about four thousand years 
when Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, having 
taken human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and 
being made man, was born of her, for the redemption of 
mankind, at Bethlehem of Judea. Joseph and Mary had 
come up to Bethlehem to be enrolled, and, unable to find 
shelter elsewhere, they took refuge in a stable, and in this 
lowly place Jesus Christ was born. The Blessed Virgin 
wrapped the divine Infant in swaddling-clothes, and laid 
Him in the manger. While the sensual and the proud 
were asleep, an angel appeared to some poor shepherds. 
They were seized with great fear, but the heavenly mes- 
senger said to them : " Pear not : for behold I bring you 
good tidings of exceeding great joy, that shall be to all the 
people. For this day is born to you a Saviour, Who is 
Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a 
sign to you : you shall find the Child wrapped in swaddling- 
clothes, and laid in a manger." After the departure of 
the angel the wondering shepherds said to one another: 
" Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see the word 
that is come to pass, which the Lord hath shown to us." 
They immediately hastened thither, and found Mary and 
Joseph, and the Infant lying in the manger. Bowing down 
they adored Him, and then returned to their flocks, glori- 
fying and praising God. 

Reflection. — Our Saviour sanctified our flesh by taking 
it on Himself , and with His last breath He commended us 
to the care of His Virgin Mother. Day by day He still 
feeds us at the altar with the food of incorruption — His 
body and His blood. 




December 27] LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



387 



December 26.— ST. STEPHEN, First Martyr. 

here is good reason to believe that St. Stephen was one 
of the seventy-two disciples of our blessed Lord. 
After the Ascension he was chosen one of the seven dea- 
cons. The ministry of the seven was very fruitful; but 
Stephen especially, 66 full of grace and fortitude, did great 
wonders and signs among the people." Many adversaries 
rose up to dispute with him, but "they were not able to 
withstand the wisdom and the spirit that spoke." At 
length he was brought before the Sanhedrim, charged, like 
his divine Master, with blasphemy against Moses and 
against God. He boldly upbraided the chief priests with 
their hard-hearted resistance to the Holy Ghost and with 
the murder of the "Just One." They were stung with 
anger, and gnashed their teeth against him. But when, 
" filled with the Holy Ghost and looking up to heaven, he 
cried out, c Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son 
of man standing at the right hand of God/ they rushed 
upon him, and dragging him forth without the city, they 
stoned him to death." 

Reflection. — If ever you are tempted to resentment, 
pray from your heart for him who has offended you. 

December 27.— ST. JOHN, Evangelist. 

t. John, the youngest of the apostles in age, was 
called to follow Christ on the banks of the Jordan 
during the first days of Our Lord's ministry. He was one 
of the privileged few present at the Transfiguration and 
the Agony in the garden. At the Last Supper his head 
rested on the bosom of Jesus, and in the hours of the 
Passion, when others fled or denied their Master, St. John 
kept his place by the side of J esus, and at^the last stood by 
the cross with Mary. From the cross the dying Saviour 
bequeathed His Mother to the care of the faithful apostle, 
who " from that hour took her to his own ; " thus fitly, as 
St. Austin says, "to a virgin was the Virgin intrusted." 
After the Ascension, St. John lived first at Jerusalem, and 





388 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS. [December 28 



then at Ephesus. He was thrown by Domitian into a cal- 
dron of boiling oil, and is thus reckoned a martyr, though 
miraculously preserved from hurt. Afterwards he was 
banished to the isle of Patmos, where he received the 
heavenly visions described in the Apocalypse. He died at 
a great age, in peace, at Ephesus, in the year 100. 

Reflection. — St. John is a living example of Our Lord's 
saying, " Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see 
God." 

December 28.— THE HOLY INNOCENTS. 

erod, who was reigning in Judea at the time of the 
birth of Our Saviour, having heard that the Wise 
Men had come from the East to Jerusalem in search of the 
King of the Jews, was troubled. He called together the 
chief priests, and learning that Christ was to be born in 
Bethlehem, he told the Wise Men : " When you have found 
Him, bring me word again, that I also may come and adore 
Him." But God having warned them in a dream not to 
return, they went back to their homes another way. St. 
Joseph, too, was ordered in his sleep to "take the Child 
and His Mother and fly into Egypt." When Herod found 
that the Wise Men did not return, he was furious, and 
ordered that every male child in Bethlehem and its vicinity 
of the age of two and under should be slain. These inno- 
cent victims were the flowers and the first-fruits of His 
martyrs, and triumphed over the world, without having 
ever known it or experienced its dangers. 

Reflection. — How few perhaps of these children, if 
they had lived, would have escaped the dangers of the 
world! What snares, what sins, what miseries were they 
preserved from ! So we often lament as misfortunes many 
accidents which in the designs of Heaven are the greatest 
mercies. 




December 30] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



389 



December 29.— ST. THOMAS OF CANTERBURY. 

t. Thomas, son of Gilbert Becket, was born in South- 
ward England, in 1117. When a youth he was 
attached to the household of Theobald, Archbishop of Can- 
terbury, who sent him to Paris and Bologna to study law. 
He became Archdeacon of Canterbury, then Lord High 
Chancellor of England; and in 1160, when Archbishop 
Theobald died, the king insisted on the consecration of St. 
Thomas in his stead. St. Thomas refused, warning the 
king that from that hour their friendship would be broken. 
In the end he yielded, and was consecrated. The conflict 
at once broke out; St. Thomas resisted the royal customs, 
which violated the liberties of the Church and the laws of 
the realm. After six years of contention, partly spent in 
exile, St. Thomas, with full foresight of martyrdom before 
him, returned as a good shepherd to his Church. On the 
29th of December, 1170, just as vespers were beginning, 
four knights broke into the cathedral, crying : " Where is 
the archbishop? where is the traitor?" The monks fled, 
and St. Thomas might easily have escaped. But he ad- 
vanced, saying : " Here I am — no traitor, but arch- 
bishop. What seek you?" "Your life," they cried. 
" Gladly do I give it," was the reply; and bowing his head, 
the invincible martyr was hacked and hewn till his soul 
went to God. Six months later Henry II. submitted to be 
publicly scourged at the Saint's shrine, and restored to the 
Church her full rights. 

Reflection. — 66 Learn from St. Thomas," says Father 
Paber, "to fight the good fight even to the shedding of 
blood, or, to what men find harder, the shedding of their 
good name by pouring it out to waste on the earth." 

December 30.— ST. SABINUS, Bishop, and his 
Companions, Martyrs. 

©HE cruel edicts of Diocletian and Maximin against the 
Christians being published in the year 303, Sabinus, 
Bishop of Assisium, and several of his clergy, were appre- 
hended and kept in custody till Venustianus, the Governor 




390 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS [December 31 



of Etruria and Umbria, came thither. Upon his arrival in 
that city he caused the hands of Sabinus, who had made a 
glorious confession of his Faith before him, to be cut off; 
and his two deacons, Marcellus and Exuperantius, to be 
scourged, beaten with clubs, and torn with iron nails, under 
which torments they both expired. Sabinus is said to 
have cured a blind boy, and a weakness in the eyes of 
Venustianus himself, who was thereupon converted, and 
afterward beheaded for the Faith. Lucius, his successor, 
commanded Sabinus to be beaten to death with clubs at 
Spoleto. The martyr was buried a mile from that city, 
but his relics have been since translated to Faenza. 

Reflection. — How powerfully do the martyrs cry out to 
us by their example, exhorting us to despise a false and 
wicked world! 

December 31.— ST. SYLVESTER, Pope. 

ylvester was born in Eome toward the close of the 
third century. He was a young priest when the 
persecution of the Christians broke out under the tyrant 
Diocletian. Idols were erected at the corners of the streets, 
in the market-places, and over the public fountains, so that 
it was scarcely possible for a Christian to go abroad without 
being put to the test of offering sacrifice, with the alterna- 
tive of apostasy or death. During this fiery trial, Sylvester 
strengthened the confessors and martyrs, God preserving 
his life from many dangers. In 312 a new era set in. 
Constantine, having triumphed under the " standard of the 
Cross," declared himself the protector of the Christians, 
and built them splendid churches. At this juncture Syl- 
vester was elected to the chair of Peter, and was thus the 
first of the Eoman Pontiffs to rule the flock of Christ in 
security and peace. He profited by these blessings to renew 
the discipline of the Church, and in two great Councils 
confirmed her sacred truths. In the Council of Aries he 
condemned the schism of the Donatists; and in that of 
Mcaea, the first general Council of the Church, he dealt 
Arianism its death-blow by declaring that Jesus Christ is 
the true and very God. Sylvester died A. D. 335. 




Decembee 31] LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 



391 



Reflection. — Never forget to thank God daily for having 
made yon a member of His nndying Church, and grow 
daily in your attachment, devotion, and loyalty to the Vicar 
of Christ. 



LIVES OF THE AMERICAN 
SAINTS 



Placed in the Proper for the United States 

AT THE SPECIAL PETITION OF 

THE THIRD PLENARY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE. 



ST. PHILIP OF JESUS, Martyr, Patron of the City 

of Mexico. 

Qhilip de las Casas was born in the city of Mexico, 
where his parents settled after setting out for the 
jSTew World from Illescas in Spain. They were earnest in 
all their religious duties and brought up their family 
piously, two sons entering the Augustinian Order, one to 
die by the hands of the heathen. Philip at first showed 
little care for the pious teaching of his parents and the 
example of his brothers, but at last he, too, resolved to 
forsake the world, and entered the Eeformed Franciscan 
Convent of Santa Barbara at Pueblo. He was not yet 
weaned from the world and its vanities, and soon left the 
novitiate. Grieved at the inconstancy of his son, Alonso 
de las Casas sent him to the Philippine Islands with a 
large stock of goods and money to make purchases. In 
vain did Philip seek to satisfy his heart with pleasure. 
He could not but feel that God called him to a religious 
life. Gaining courage by prayer, he entered the Francis- 
can Convent of Our Lady of the Angels at Manila, and 
persevered, taking his vows in 1594. His novitiate had 
produced a great spirit of poverty, obedience, and prayer, 
and he sought by austerity to atone for the errors of his 
youth. As infirmarian, Brother Philip of Jesus beheld 



394 



LIVES OF THE 8AINT8 



Our Lord in the person of the sick and attended them with 
holy care. The richest cargo that he could have sent to 
Mexico would not have gratified his pious father as much 
as the tidings that Philip was a professed friar. Alonso de 
las Casas obtained from the Commissary of the Order 
directions that Philip should be sent to Mexico. He em- 
barked on the St. Philip in Juty, 1596, with other religious. 
Storms drove the vessel to the coast of Japan, and it was 
wrecked while endeavoring to enter a port, Amid the 
storm Philip saw over Japan a white cross, in the shape 
used in that country, which after a time became blood-red, 
and remained so for some time. It was an omen of his 
coming victory. The commander of the vessel sent our 
Saint and two other religious to the emperor to solicit per- 
mission to continue their voyage, but they could not obtain 
an audience. He then proceeded to Macao, to a house of 
his Order, to seek the influence of the Fathers there; but 
the pilot of the vessel by idle boasts had excited the 
emperor's fears of the Christians, and the heathen ruler 
resolved to exterminate the Catholic missionaries. In De- 
cember, officers seized a number of the Franciscan Fathers, 
three J esuits, and several of their young pupils. St. Philip 
was one of those arrested while they were in the choir 
singing the Office. Philip bore with heroic patience the 
insults of the rabble who assailed the martyrs on their way 
to prison, and heard with holy joy that sentence of death 
had been passed on them all. His left ear was cut off, and 
he offered this first-fruits of his blood to God for the 
salvation of that heathen land. The martyrs were led 
through the streets of several towns with inscriptions de- 
claring the cause of their death. They at last reached 
Nagasaki, where crosses had been erected on a high hill 
near the bay. When St. Philip was led to that on which 
he was to die, he knelt down and clasped it, exclaiming: 
" 0 happy ship ! 0 happy galleon for Philip, lost for my 
gain! Loss — -no loss for me, but the greatest of all 
gain ! " He was bound to the cross, but the rest under him 
gave way, so that he was strangled by the cords. While 
repeating the holy name of Jesus he was the first of the 
happy band to receive the death-stroke, a lance being driven 
across through his body to the right shoulder, then another 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 395 



to the left, a third stroke being given to assure his death. 
The Spanish and Japanese Christians who witnessed his 
triumph caught his blood in their hats and in cloths to 
preserve as relics. Miracles attested the power before God 
of these first martyrs of Japan. Pope Urban VIII. 
granted permission to say an Office and Mass in their 
honor, and Pope Pius IX. formally canonized them. The 
devotion to St. Philip of Jesus in his native city and 
throughout Mexico has always been very great. A church 
and a convent of Capuchin nuns are dedicated to him. His 
feast was in Spanish times kept with great solemnity in 
New Mexico, Texas, and California, and a settlement in 
Arizona bore his name. 

St. Philip died at the age of twenty-five. He is an 
example to encourage those who falter in the path of God's 
service; his prayers will aid those who are tempted, and 
enable them to acquire strength to recover lost ground 
and go on with renewed courage in the narrow way of the 
cross. His feast is celebrated February 5th. 

ST. TURRIBIUS, Archbishop of Lima. 

urribius Alphoi^sus Mogrobejo, whose feast the 
Church honors on April 27th, was born on the 6th of 
November, 1538, at Mayorga in the kingdom of Leon 
in Spain. Brought up in a pious family where devotion 
was hereditary, his youth was a model to all who knew 
him. A tender devotion to the Blessed Virgin and a love 
of the poor marked this boy. He recited the Eosary and 
the Little Office every day, and fasted every Saturday in 
honor of the Mother of God. As a schoolboy he gave away 
his own food to relieve the poor. His life as a student at 
Valladolid and Salamanca showed no relaxation from his 
early spirit of prayer. All his leisure was given to devo- 
tion or to works of charity. His austerities were great, 
and he frequently made long pilgrimages on foot. The 
fame of Turribius as a master of canon and civil law soon 
reached the ears of King Philip II., who made him judge 
at Granada. That monarch marked the exalted virtue and 
ability of Mogrobejo. About that time the see of Lima, in 
Peru, fell vacant, and among those proposed Philip found 




396 LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



no one who seemed better endowed than our Saint with 
all the qualities that were required at that city, where much 
was to be done for religion. He sent to Eome the name of 
the holy judge, and the Sovereign Pontiff confirmed his 
choice. Turribius in vain sought to avoid the honor, and 
wrote a long treatise, which he forwarded to Eome, to show 
how irregular it was to appoint a layman to such a position. 
The Pope, in reply, directed him to prepare to receive Holy 
Orders and be consecrated. King Philip was equally deaf 
to his appeal. Yielding at last by direction of his con- 
fessor, he prepared by a long retreat to receive minor orders 
and the subdeaconship and deaconship. Then he was 
ordained priest and consecrated. He arrived at Lima in 
1587, and entered on his duties. All was soon edification 
and order in his episcopal city. A model of all virtue him- 
self, he confessed daily and prepared for Mass by long 
meditation. The influence of the holy man was soon felt. 
St. Turribius then began a visitation of his vast diocese, 
which he traversed three times, his first visitation lasting 
seven years and his second four. He held provincial 
councils, framing decrees of such wisdom that his regula- 
tions were adopted in many countries. St. Turribius 
preached, catechized, and confirmed far and wide; he held 
diocesan synods, and encouraged his bishops to do the 
same. Almost his entire revenues were bestowed on bis 
creditors, as he styled the poor, and he bore with intrepid 
patience the vexatious opposition raised to many of his 
reforms, maintaining the liberties of the Church with apos- 
tolical courage. While discharging with zeal his duties of 
priest and bishop, he was seized with a fatal illness during 
his third visitation, and died on the 23d of March in the 
year 1666, at Santa, exclaiming, as he received the sacred 
Viaticum : a I rejoiced in the things that were said to 
me : ' We shall go into the house of the Lord/ " 

His holy, austere, and devoted life had made the people 
regard him as a saint and a constant benefactor. They re- 
garded him now as their patron in heaven, and miracles 
rewarded their faith. The proofs of his holy life and of 
the favors granted through his intercession induced Pope 
Innocent XI. to beatify him, and he was canonized by 
Pope Benedict XIII. in the year 1726. 



LIVES OF THE SAINTS 397 



Saint Turribius was a model for all states — as a holy 
youth, as a pious and zealous layman, as a great and ex- 
emplary bishop. 

ST. FRANCIS SOLANO. 

he diocese of Cordova, in Spain, was the birthplace of 
this Saint, who won many thousands of souls to God. 
From his earliest years he was characterized by a modest 
behavior, prudent silence, and edifying meekness. While 
still very young he was always able to effect a reconcilia- 
tion between the most bitter enemies. Once, when he 
came upon two Spaniards who were engaged in deadly 
strife, he threw himself between them, and kneeling down 
prayed with so much fervor that the fierce combatants 
sheathed their daggers and became reconciled to one an- 
other. 

His education was intrusted to the Jesuit Fathers, but 
his desire to follow the poor and humble Jesus in perfect 
poverty and humility induced him to enter the Order of 
St. Francis. Soon he excelled every one in the house in 
humility, obedience, fervor in prayer, and self-denial. 
Sometimes he would pass the entire night on his knees be- 
fore the tabernacle. If he saw a religious zealous for God's 
honor and love, he would say to him : " Brother, let us see 
which of us can show Jesus more proofs of love, fervor, 
and self-denial during this week." 

After his ordination he preached the word of God in 
simple, unadorned language, but with so much fervor and 
heartfelt emotion, that those among his numerous audi- 
ence who had been traveling on the broad road of vice 
abandoned it, and entered upon the narrow path of a 
virtuous life. 

He was no less zealous in deed than in word; for when 
the pestilence was raging in Granada he was untiring and 
fearless in his service to the plague-stricken inhabitants, 
tending the sick and dying with such assiduous and, as it 
were, maternal care, that the wondering people praised 
God for the visible protection He manifested towards His 
servant. 

In the year 1589 he sailed for South America to preach 




398 LIVES OF THE SAINTS 



the Gospel to the Indians in Pern. On the same vessel 
with him were six hundred negro slaves. While still at 
some distance from shore the ship struck a ledge of rocks, 
and the danger of drowning was imminent. 

The captain hurried the officers and principal passengers 
into the only boat there was, and tried to induce the mis- 
sionary to accompany them; but he refused to do so in 
these terms : " Sir, you have done your duty ; now I shall 
do mine. I stay here." He then consoled the remaining 
passengers, directing their thoughts to heaven. He knelt 
down with them and prayed fervently, exhorting those who 
had been baptized, instructing those who were not, and 
comforting all. Meanwhile the vessel was sinking, and the 
passengers trembled with fear ; but not so the zealous mis- 
sionary. He alone kept up his hope in God's mercy. Thus 
three dreadful days were passed, until at last the captain 
came with the life-boat and all were taken off in safety. 

The missionary did not confine his ministry to Lima. 
He visited the forests and deserts inhabited by the Indians, 
who were cruel and bloodthirsty by nature, and who hated 
the Spaniards because they had oftentimes been cruelly 
treated by them. 

But God protected His fearless servant, to whom He had 
given the gifts of eloquence and power over wild beasts. 
Lions, tigers, and snakes obeyed him, and the birds perched 
on his shoulders, singing with him the praises of God. By 
degrees he won the trust of the Indians, who marvelled at 
his kindness ; they listened to his instructions, allowed him 
to baptize them, and followed him as grateful children fol- 
low their father. 

In this way nine thousand Indians were converted, and 
everything was in the most promising condition when the 
missionary was recalled by an order from his Superior to 
Lima, which at that time was like the godless city of 
Ninive. Francis preached with great effect to the hard- 
ened sinners. He carried his mission everywhere — in the 
public streets, into the shameless theatres and gambling- 
dens, where, cross in hand, he frightened the evil-doers by 
the might of his words, which echoed like the trumpet- 
sounds of the last judgment. The result of his labors was 
that the whole city became converted. 



LIVES OF TEE SAINTS 399 



He wrought many miracles on the sick and sorrowful, 
but was in himself the greatest miracle of all. Ever busy, 
humble, joyful, and never uttering a single useless word, in 
his leisure time he composed songs to the Christ-child and 
His blessed Mother, and sung them, to the accompaniment 
of his violin, so sweetly that his hearers were enraptured. 

His love of his neighbor was unbounded. He never 
thought evil of any one, and put a good construction on 
every action, even when persecuted, calumniated, and held 
in suspicion by his religious brethren. 

The proverb, " As our life is, so shall be our death," was 
fulfilled in Francis* case. In his last painful sickness he 
prayed thus: "0 Jesus r how do I deserve such grace! 
Thou wert nailed to the cross, and I am served by my 
brethren; Thou wert stripped of Thy clothes, and I am 
well covered; Thou didst receive blows, and I only receive 
good things, 0 my God." 

His last words were, " God be praised ! 99 after uttering 
which his soul departed this earth on July 14, 1610. His 
remains were honored by a grand funeral, and he was de- 
clared Blessed by Pope Clement X. in 1675, and canonized 
by Benedict XIII. in 1726. St. Francis' feast is held July 
24th. 



THE END 



INDEX 



A 

Advent, 3 
All-Saints, 348 
All-Souls, 348 
The Annunciation, 123 
The Ascension, 15 
The Assumption, 281 
Ash Wednesday, 5 
Sts. Abraham and Mary, 109 
Sts. Adrian and Eubulus, 97 
St. Aelred, 33 
St. Agapetus, 284 
St. Agatha, 63 
St. Agnes, 43 
St. Albinus, 92 
St. Alexius, 252 
St. Aloysius Gonzaga, 224 
St. Alphonsus Liguori, 268 
St. Ambrose, 374 
St. Andrew, Apostle, 369 
St. Andrew Avellino. 354 
St, Anicetus, 149 
St. Anne, 262 
St. Anselm, 152 
St. Antoninus, 175 
St. Antony, 39 
St. Antony of Padua, 216 
St. Apollinaris, Apologist, 29 
St. Apollinaris, Martyr, 259 
St. Apollonia and the Mar- 
tyrs of Alexandria, 68 
St. Apollonius, 150 
St. Athanasius. 165 
St. Attalus, 202 
St. Augustine, 193 
St. Augustine of Hippo, 296 
St. Avitus, 220 

B 

Blood, The Most Precious, 7 
St. Bademus, 142 
St. Barachisius, 129 



St. Barbara, 372 

St. Barbatus, 79 

St. Barnabus, 214 

St. Bartholomew, 292 

St. Basil the Great, 217 

St. Basilissa, 30 

St. Bathildes, 53 

Ven, Bede, 195 

St. Benedict, 119 

St. Benedict of Anian, 71 

St. Benezet, 146 

St. Benjamin, 130 

St. Bernard, 287 

St. Bernardine of Siena, 186 

St. Bertha, 237 

St. Bertille, 351 

St. Bibiana, 370 

St. Blandina, 202 

St. Blase, 61 

Blessed Virgin Mary, The An- 
nunciation of, 123 

Blessed Virgin Mary, The As- 
sumption of, 281 

Blessed Virgin Mary, The Im- 
maculate Conception of, 
374 

Blessed Virgin Mary, The Na- 
tivity of, 308 

Blessed Virgin Mary, The Pres- 
entation of, 363 

Blessed Virgin Mary, The Puri- 
fication of, 59 

Blessed Virgin Mary, The 
Seven Dolors of, 8 

Blessed Virgin Mary, the Sun- 
day in the Octave of the 
Nativity of, 308 

Blessed Virgin Mary, The Visi- 
tation of, 235 

Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, 
321 

St. Bonaventure, 249 
St. Boniface, 206 



402 



INDEX 



St. Bridgid, 54 

St. Bridget of Sweden, 332 

St. Bruno, 330 

C 

Candlemas-day, 59 
Christmas* 586 

The Circumcision of Our Lord, 
21 

Corpus Christi, 19 
Cross, The Holy, Discovery of, 
166 

Cross, The Holy* Exaltation of, 
314 

Crown of Thorns, The Holv, 9 

St. Cajetan, 274 

St. Callistus, 336 

St. Camillus of Lellis, 253 

St. Canutus, 41 

St. Casimir, 96 

St. Catherine of Alexandria, 
366 

St. Catherine of Genoa, 315 
St. Catherine of Ricci, 72 
St, Catherine of Siena, 163 
St. Catherine of Sweden, 120 
St. Cecilia, 363 
St. Celestine, 137 
St. Celsus, 263 
St. Charles Borromeo, 350 
St. Christina, 260 
St. Clare, 278 
St. Claude, 209 
St. Clement of Rome, 364 
Sts. Cletus and Marcellinus, 
158 

St. Clotilda, 203 
St. Cloud, 307 
St. Colette, 98 

St. Columba, or Columkille, 
212 

Sts. Cosmas and Damian, 324 
St. Crescentia, 218 
Sts. Crispin and Crispinian, 
343 

St. Cunegundes, 146 

St. Cyprian, 315 

Sts. Cyprian and Justina, Mar- 
tyrs, 323 

St. Cyriacus and his Compan- 
ions, 275 



St. Cyril, 197 

St. Cyril of Alexandria, 57 
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, 114 

D 

The Dedication of St. Mary ad 
Mves, 272 

St. Damascus, 376 

St. Damian, 324 

St. David, 91 

St. Delphinius, 385 

St. Didacus, 357 

St. Dionysia, 180 

St. Dionysius and his Compan- 
ions, 332 

St. Dominic, 271 

Sts. Donatian and Rogatian, 
190 

St. Dorothy, 65 
E 

Easter Sunday, 14 
Epiphany of Our Lord, 28 
St. Edmund of Canterbury, 
359 

St. Edward the Confessor, 335 

Eighteen Martyrs of Sara- 
gossa, 148 

St. Eleutherius, 306 

St. Eligius, 370 

St. Elizabeth of Hungary, 361 

St. Elizabeth of Portugal, 242 

St. Elphege, 151 

St. Emiliana, 385 

St. Eneratis, 148 

St. Ephrem, 243 

St. Epiphanius, 177 

St. Etheldreda, 226 

St. Eubulus, 97 

St. Eucherius, 80 

St. Eugenius, 248 

St. Eulalia, 376 

St. Eulogius, 103 

St. Eulogius, Patriarch, 313 

St. Euphrasia, 106 

St. Eusebius, 280 

St. Eusebius, Bishop, 380 

St. Eustachius and his Com- 
panions, 318 

St. Evaristus, 244 



INDEX 



403 



F 

The Five Wounds of Our Lord, 
6 

The Forty Hours' Devotion, 4 
Sts. Faustinus and Jovita, 74 
St. Felicianus, 211 
St. Felieitas and her Seven 

Sons, 244 
St. Felix I, 198 
St. Felix of Valois, 362 
St. Fiaker, 299 
St. Fidelis, 156 
St. Finbarr, 322 
St. Finian, 377 
St. Firmin, 322 
St. Flavian, 76 

Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, 102 
St. Frances of Eome, 101 
St. Francis of Assisi, 329 
St. Francis Borgia, 333 
St. Francis Caracciolo, 204 
St. Francis of Paula, 133 
St. Francis of Sales, 52 
St. Francis Solano, 397 
St. Francis Xavier, 371 
St. Frumentius, 345 
St. Fulgentius, 22 



G 

Guardian Angels, 327 
Good Friday, 12 
St. Gal, Bishop, 234 
St. Gall, Abbot, 337 
St. Gatian, 381 
St. Genevieve, 24 
St. George, 155 
St. Gterard, 328 

St. Germanus, Bishop of Aux- 

erre, 265 
St. Gerrnanus, Bishop of Paris, 

196 

St. Gertrude, 359 

St, Giles, 301 

St. Goar, 239 

St. Gontran, 128 

St. Gregory the Great, 105 

St. Gregory, Bishop, 26 

St. Gregory Nazianzen, 174 

St. Gregory VII, 191 



St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, 360 
St. Guy of Anderlecht, 312 

H 

Holy Cross, The Discovery of 
the, 166 

Holy Cross, The Exaltation of 

the, 314 
Holy Innocents, 388 
Holy Belies, Feast of the, 353 
Holy Saturday, 13 
St. Hedwige, 338 
St. Hegesippus, 138 
St. Helena, 234 
St. Heliodorus, 237 
St. Henry, 250 

B. Herman Joseph of Steinfeid, 
138 

St. Hermenegild, 145 

St. Hilarion, 341 

St. Hilary of Poitiers, 36 

St. Honor atus, 38 

St. Hospitius, 186 

St. Hubert, 350 

St. Hugh, 131 

St. Hugh of Cluny, 162 

St. Hyacinth, 282 

I 

The Immaculate Conception, 
374 

St. Ignatius, Martyr, 58 
St. Ignatius of Loyola. 266 
St. Irenaeus, 231 
St. Ischyrion, 384 
St. Isidore, 135 

J 

St. James, Apostle, 261 

St. James, Bishop, 245 

St. James of La Marca of An- 

eona, 367 
St. Jane Frances de Chantal, 

289 

St. Jane of Valois, 62 

St. Januarius, 318 

The Japanese Martyrs, 64 

St. Jerome, 326 

St. Jerome Emiliani, 256 



404 



INDEX 



St. John the Almoner, 141 
St. John the Baptist, 227 
St. John the Baptist, Behead- 
ing of, 296 
B. John of Britto, 75 
St. John Cantius, 340 
St. John Chrysostom, 50 
St. John Climacus, 130 
St. John of the Cross, 365 
St. John of Egypt, 127 
St. John, Evangelist, 387 
St. John before the Latin Gate, 
170 

St. John Francis Regis, 219 
St. John of God, 100 
St. John Gualbert, 247 
St. John of Matha, 67 
St. John Neponiucen, 181 
St. John the Silent, 178 
St. John of St. Fagondez, 215 
Sts. John and Paul, Martyrs, 
230 

Sts. Jonas, Barachisius, and 

their Companions, 129 
St. Joseph, 115 
St. Joseph Calasanctus, 295 
St. Jovita, 74 
St. Jude, 345 
St. Julia, 189 
St. Juliana Falconieri, 222 
Sts. Julian and Basilissa, 30 
St. Julius, 144 
St. Justin, 200 
St. Justina, 323 



L 

St. Ladislas, 230 
St. Lambert, 316 
St. Laurence, Martyr, 277 

Laurence Justinian, 305 
St. Laurence O'Toole, 358 
St. Leander, 88 
St. Leo the Great, 143 
St. Leocadia, 375 
St. Leonard, 352 
St. Leonides, 154 
St. Liberatus and others, 283 
St. Louis, Bishop, 286 
St. Louis, King, 293 
St. Louis Bertrand, 332 



St. Lucian, 29 

St. Lucy, 378 

St. Ludger, 125 

St. Luke, 339 

St. Lupicinus, 89 

M 

Maundy Thursday, 11 

The Most Holy Crown of 

Thorns, 9 
The Most Precious Blood, 7 
Dedication of St. Mary ad 

Nives, 272 
St. Macarius of Alexandria, 23 
St. Magloire, 343 
St. Malachi, 349 
St. Mammertus, 176 
St. Marcella, 54 
St. Marcellinus, Bishop, 152 
St. Marcellinus, Pope, 158 
St. Marcellus, 347 
Sts. Marcus and Marcellianus, 

221 

St. Margaret, Martyr, 256 
B. Margaret Mary Alacoque, 
338 

St. Margaret of Scotland, 213 
St. Mark, Evangelist, 157 
St. Mark, Pope, 331 
St. Martha, 264 
St. Martin, Pope, 356 
St. Martin of Tours, 355 
The Martyrs of Alexandria, 107 
The Martyrs of Japan, 64 
The Martyrs of Lvons, 202 
The Martyrs of Sebaste, 102 
The Martyrs of Saragossa, 148 
St. Mary of Egypt, 140 
St Mary Magdalen, 258 
St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi, 
194 

St. Matthew, 319 
St. Matthias, 85 
St. Maud, 107 
St. Maximus, 367 
St. Medard, 210 
St. Mello, 341 
St. Mesmin, 379 
St. Michael, 325 
St. Michael, The Apparition ©f, 
172 



INDEX 



405 



St. Modestus, 218 
St. Monica, 168 

N 

The Nativity of the Blessed 
Virgin, 308 

St. Narcissus, 346 

Sts. Nazarius and Celsus, 263 

St. Nemesion, 382 

St. Nicasius and his Compan- 
ions, 378 

St. Nicholas of Bari, 373 

St. Nicholas of Tolentino, 310 

St. Norbert, 207 

0 

St. Odo of Cluny, 361 
St. Olympias, 380 
St. Omer, 309 
St. Onesimus, 76 
St. Optatus, 148 
St. Oswald, 90 

P 

Palm Sunday, 10 

The Purification, 59 

The Presentation of the Blessed 

Virgin, 363 
St. Pachomius, 179 
St. Palladius, 240 
St. Pamphilus, 201 
St. Pantamus, 241 
St. Pantaleon, 262 
St. Paphnutius, 311 
St. Paschal Baylon, 182 
St. Paternus, 147 
St. Patrick, 110 
St. Paul, 233 

St. Paul, The Conversion of, 47 
St. Paul of the Cross, 160 
St. Paul, the First Hermit, 37 
St. Paul, Martyr, 230 
St. Paulinus of Nola, 225 
St. Perpetuus, 139 
St. Peter, Apostle, 232 
St. Peter's Chains, 267 
St. Peter's Chair at Antioch, 
82 



St. Peter's Chair at Rome, 40 
St. Peter of Alcantara, 340 
St. Peter of Alexandria, 366 
St. Peter Celestine, 185 
B. Peter Claver, 310 
St. Peter Damian, 83 
B. Peter Favre, 275 
St. Peter of Luxemburg, 238 
St. Peter, Martyr, 161 
Sts. Peter and Dionysia, 180 
St. Petronilla, 199 
St. Philip Benizi, 291 
St. Philip Neri, 192 
St. Philip of Jesus, 393 
Sts. Philip and James, 164 
St. Philogonius, 382 
St. Pius V, 169 
St. Placid, 330 
St. Polycarp, 49 
St. Porphyry, 87 
St. Pothinus and other Mar- 
tyrs of Lyons, 202 
Sts. Primus and Felicianus, 211 
St. Prosper of Aquitaine, 229 

Q 

Quinquagesima Sunday, 4 
St. Quintin, 347 

R 

Relics, Feast of the Holy, 546 
St. Radegundes, 279 
St. Raymund Nonnatus, 300 
St. Raymund of Pennafort, 45 
St. Remigius, 327 
St. Richard of Chichester, ^4 
St. Robert, 208 
St. Rogatian, 190 
St. Romanus, 276 
Sts. Romanus and Lupicinus, 
66 

St. Romuald, 66 

St. Rose of Lima, 298 

St. Rosalia, 304 

S 

The Seven Dolors of the Blessed 

Virgin, 8 
St. Sabas, 372 



406 



INDEX 



St. Sabinus and his Compan- 
ions, 389 
St. Sanctus, 202 
St. Saturninus, 368 
St. Scholastica, 69 
St. Sebastian, 42 
St. Seraphia, 303 
St, Serenus, 84 
St. Severianus, 81 
St. Servulus, 384 
St. Silverius, 223 
St. Simeon, 77 
St. Simeon Stylites, 27 
St. Simon, Infant Martyr, 122 
St. Simon Stock, 251 
Sts. Simon and Jude, 345 
St. Simplicius, 93 
St. Soter, 158 

St. Stanislas, Bishop and Mar- 
tyr, 171 

St. Stanislas Kostka, 356 

St. Stephen, First Martyr, 387 

St. Stephen, Finding of the 
Relics of, 270 

St. Stephen, King, 302 

St. Stephen, Pope, 268 

St. Susanna, 278 

St. Sylvester, 390 

St. Symphorian, 290 



T 

The Transfiguration, 273 
Trinity Sunday, 12 
St. Tarachus and his Compan- 
ions, 334 
$k* Tarasius, 86 
St. Teresa, 337 
The Theban Legion, 354 
St. Theela, 321 
St. Theodore Tyro, 354 
St. Theodoret, 342 
St. Theodosius, 32 
St. Thomas, Apostle, 383 
St. Thomas Aquinas, 99 
St. Thomas of Canterbury, 387 
St. Thomas of Villanova, 317 



Sts. Thrasilla and Emiliana, 
385 

Sts. Tiburtius and Susanna, 
278 

St. Timothy, 46 

St Titus, 25 

St. Turribius, 395 

U 

St. Ursula, 341 
V 

The Visitation, 235 

St. Valentine, 73 

St. Valery, 377 

St. Venantius, 183 

St. Veronica, 34 

St. Victor, 257 

St. Victorian and others, 121 

St. Vincent, 44 

St. Vincent Ferrer, 136 

St. Vincent of Paul, 254 

St. Vita lis, 161 

Sts. Vitus, Crescentia, and 
Modestus, 218 

W 

Whit-Sunday, 17 
St. Wenceslas, 325 
St. William, 51 

St. William of Monte-Vergine, 
229 

St. Willibrord, 352 
St. Wilfrid, 335 
St. Wulfran, 117 

Y 

St, Yvo, 187 

Z 

St. Zachary, 108 
St. Zephyrinus, 294 
St. Zita, 159 



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